“We’re not going to go away from playoffs”: NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell extremely clear about knockout format’s future, reveals inarguable quality

NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve O’Donnell, recently appeared in a press conference where he shared his ideas on the current playoff format. He also said that the playoffs are something that the sport will always stick with.

With the four-car field for the championship race decided, there has been a lot of criticism about the current playoff system. Joey Logano, who won three races this year and amassed six top-5s and 12 top-10s is locked in the coveted event whereas Kyle Larson, who has had a stellar season, bagging a series-high six wins besides 14 top-5s and 17 top-10s, failed to make the final four.

The Championship 4 also includes Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, who took the checkered flag at Martinsville last week, and Tyler Reddick, who won the week prior at Homestead-Miami. However, Byron has been winless since April 7. To some, this might have seemed unfair.

However, O’Donnell argued that it’s this very format that has churned out fantastic races over the past nine weeks.

“The format is one thing, but the playoffs...we're not going to go away from playoffs,” O’Donnell told the reporters. “We read fans...we will as we always do. We'll absolutely look at what form the playoffs take in the offseason. But you cannot argue with the quality of racing that the playoffs have delivered. We can talk about the format...if we do some different things but absolutely we're going to stick with it.” (1:10)

It is confirmed that the playoffs aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, as O’Donnell said, the format might change in the days to come.

“We are always looking if there are opportunities for us to tweak something”- NASCAR President on upcoming changes to the playoff format

In the same media availability, Steve Phelps, President of NASCAR, said that the sport was always looking forward to tweaking the system to get the best out of the drivers throughout the season. Speaking of which, he said,

“We are always looking if there are opportunities for us to tweak something, so be it. We are not the only sport where the best statistical team does not get to the Final Four or the Super Bowl or the World Series. The format… there was a huge emphasis put 10 years ago when the format was put into place about winning. Three of the four on Sunday, they won to get through. I go back to the format itself I think creates incredible racing.”

Phelps noted that it’s the cut-throat competition that pushes the drivers to bring out their ‘A-game’ which, in turn, translates into great racing, something that fans demand every week.

According to a report by Black Book Motorsport, 2.42 million fans tuned in to NBC to watch the playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, (which Larson won) making it the most-watched event at the ROVAL since 2021.

“Viewership peaked at 3.1 million viewers for the final race in the round of 12. Postseason viewership is now up 5.2 percent year-over-year (YoY) through first six (playoff) races,” the report further stated.

“So if we are all going to be honest and say, 'Hey, how's the racing been during the playoffs in these nine weeks?' I don't think it's been ever better,” Phelps continued. “I think part of it is due to the system itself. They race their guts out. I think it provides great racing for our race fans.”

The most awaited event of the year, i.e., the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway will stream live on NBC Sports from 3 pm ET onwards. Fans can also listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.