NASCAR has a unique championship format compared to other motorsports. While other conventional American and European motorsports championships are awarded based on the most points scored, NASCAR uses playoffs to decide the championship.
There are 36 races in a NASCAR Cup Series season. Out of these 36 races, 26 are regular season races where drivers have the opportunity to qualify for the playoffs. The remaining 10 races are organized in four rounds of playoffs. There will be three races each in the round of 16, round of 12, and round of eight playoffs, and the 10th and final race of the season will be the championship race. At every playoff round, four drivers are eliminated, and the final championship race is contested by four drivers.
The total spots up for grabs for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are 16. The points leader in the regular season qualifies automatically, even if the driver has not won a race. The remaining 15 spots are filled by drivers who have won a race, provided that they have finished inside the top 30 in the regular season.
If there are more than 16 winners, the ties will be decided primarily by race wins, followed by points. In instances where there are fewer than 16 winners, the remaining playoff positions will be allocated to those winless drivers with the highest points.
At the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, the points leader is awarded 15 playoff points. Second place receives 10 playoff points, third place gets eight, fourth place gets seven, fifth place receives six, sixth place gets five, seventh place gets four, eightth place gets three, ninth place gets two, and 10th place gets one playoff point.
For every race stage win, the driver is awarded one playoff point, and for the race win, the driver is awarded five playoff points. Before the start of the playoffs, every qualified driver's points are adjusted to 2000 with every point earned added to their total. At the beginning of each playoff round, the points are reset to a round figure, so at the end of the round of 16 playoffs, the drivers qualified for the round of 12 will have their points adjusted to 3000.
This follows to the round of eight playoffs where the points would be totaled to 4000. For the final championship race, the qualified drivers' points would be adjusted to 5000, and the highest-finishing driver in that race is the champion.
Also Read : What team has the most wins in NASCAR?
FAQ's on How does NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs work?
A. There are four rounds of playoffs, with three races each in the round of 16, round of 12, and round of 8 playoffs, and the 10th and final race of the season will be the championship race.
A. There are 16 spots available for playoffs.
A. The Final NASCAR Cup Series Championship race is contested by four drivers who qualified by being the best drivers in the round of eight playoffs.
A. Before the start of the playoffs, every qualified driver's points are adjusted to 2000 with every point earned added to their total. At the beginning of each playoff round, the points are reset to a round figure, so at the end of the round of 16 playoffs, the drivers qualified for the round of 12 will have their points adjusted to 3000. This follows for the round of 8 playoffs where the points would be totaled to 4000. For the final championship race, the qualified drivers' points would be adjusted to 5000.
A. The NASCAR playoffs were introduced in the 2004 season, exclusively for the Cup Series.
