Bob Pockrass urges NASCAR to rethink playoff rules after Harrison Burton's berth - "There should be at least some standard"

Renowned NASCAR expert and personality Bob Pockrass recently commented on NASCAR's playoff rule, days after Harrison Burton earned his spot in the playoffs. The Fox Sports journalist questioned NASCAR's decision to allow a driver into the playoff based on a race victory.

Harrison Burton claimed the victory at the recently concluded Coke Zero Sugar 400 held at Daytona International Speedway. He held off Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell to snatch the win on the penultimate lap, cementing his position in the playoffs.

While Burton and Wood Brothers Racing might be happy about the playoff berth, their season-long performance has raised multiple eyebrows. The #21 driver has delivered mediocre performances throughout the season, and despite that, he is through to the playoffs by virtue of a race win.

Burton qualified for the next stage ahead of the likes of Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Chase Briscoe, who are over 250 points ahead of him. Pointing this out, Pockrass wrote in his column with Fox Sports:

"Does it matter that his average finish is 25.9, worse than any other driver (Zane Smith is next at 24.6) and five spots worse than Austin Cindric's 20.9, the next-worst among race-winning drivers?"

"Does it matter that his 306 points are less than half of Bubba Wallace (637), who currently is the driver with the most points on the outside looking in? No. Because the rules are the rules."

Following this, he added:

"But it should matter. There should be at least some standard of driver performance to get into the playoffs."

Harrison Burton is currently in 34th place in the regular season standings with 306 points after 25 races. Besides his win, he has just one top-10 finish in 24 races. He has faced four DNFs and led only 13 laps in the entire season.

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Bob Pockrass shares an alternative to NASCAR playoff system

Harrison Burton climbs out of the No. 21 Ford as his crew showers him with Coke Zero Sugar in Victory. Source: Imagn

Harrison Burton's playoff qualification has encouraged Bob Pockrass to find a new way for drivers to earn their spots. The Fox Sports reporter stated that NASCAR should introduce a cut-off and then take the race winners from the list.

"I'd like it to be an average of 20th, which would be 442 points in the regular season (and that's without stage points). Right now, the first 23 drivers in the standings have that many points, and Noah Gragson would have it if not for a penalty earlier this year," wrote Pockrass in the same report.

Darlington Raceway is all set to host the final race of the NASCAR regular season Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday. Bubba Wallace, who starts from pole will compete for the remaining playoff spots with Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, and Ty Gibbs.