There will be no major changes to the NASCAR Cup Series playoff format for the 2025 season, though future changes are not out of the question. However, NASCAR did slightly alter the points format for the first time since stage racing was introduced for all three national series in 2017.
Whoever runs the fastest lap in each race is set to score an additional point as a part of the new Xfinity Fastest Lap program.
All drivers are eligible to score this point, regardless of where they are running when they set the lap time and where they finish the event.
In and of itself, the change doesn't seem too drastic, though many fans admittedly would have preferred a bonus point for pole position, leading a lap, and/or leading the most laps, all factors that stage racing doesn't necessarily cover.
But the change also brings to the forefront the very issue that NASCAR is aiming to prevent.
In last year's playoff race at Martinsville Speedway, both Chevrolet and Toyota made attempts to manipulate the outcome of the race to send one of their drivers to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR has cracked down on this behavior over the offseason, introducing much harsher penalties.
But what happens when someone's rival owns the fastest lap point, and their teammate, with nothing to play for, pits for new tires to take it away from them?
This may not seem like a major issue, given how much ground a driver loses in the pits. On the flip side, in Formula 1, which actually just removed its fastest lap point ahead of the 2025 season, team orders are allowed, and it was not uncommon for a driver ineligible for the point (outside of the top 10) to run the fastest lap, just so a teammate's rival couldn't take it.
The problem NASCAR faces is a little bit different.
What happens if a driver is 20 laps down, effectively out of the race, and has nothing to lose? Does the allure of scoring two points instead of one (all drivers score at least one) justify running the fastest lap on lap 397 of 400, if the real purpose is to take the point away from a teammate's rival?
At what point does NASCAR actually crack down?
Don't write off the importance of one point, and don't just assume that this is an issue which could rear its ugly head during the playoffs when it comes to cut line gaps.
We've seen small points margins, including ties, before, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. The 2024 regular season championship was decided by one point, and that one-point difference is much different than just a point over the long haul.
The top 10 drivers in the regular season standings all score bonus playoff points, on a 15-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale. Those playoff points are added to each driver's point total ahead of the start of each playoff round.
A "meaningless" fastest lap point for a driver in 36th place in some random June race could literally dictate a 10-point swing in playoff points between the first and second place driver in the regular season standings.
And let's not pretend that it would necessarily take a fluke; the regular season is set to present 26 opportunities for fastest lap points. It's not just one single opportunity to score a bonus point. Plus, unlike in Formula 1, all fastest lap points are set to be handed out in NASCAR; it's not just the drivers in the top 10 who can score it.
Race manipulation, in a roundabout way, could become a bigger problem than ever, due to a seemingly innocuous change designed to add an element of strategy to a race – and of course, to add to Premier Partner Xfinity's sponsorship presence.
But there could be a bright side. If the Xfinity Fastest Lap program works as intended, then that could indeed add a unique element of strategy to the season that justifiably plays a role in playoff points, playoff seeding, and possibly even determining the Championship 4 field.
Even that, however, is somewhat of a head-scratcher, given how largely irrelevant running the fastest lap actually is during a race, specifically during a drafting race at a superspeedway.
The 67th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to get the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season underway on Sunday, February 16, with Fox set to provide live coverage from Daytona International Speedway starting at 2:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss the "Great American Race"!