After years of justifiable grumbling from fans about the playoff system as it has existed in recent years, with multiple resets and cutoff rounds, and cries that the champions crowned in recent years weren’t truly deserving due to the one-race finale, change has come to NASCAR in a big way.

Starting with the 2026 season set to launch in a few weeks, the sport is returning to its (recent) past. No, we’re not getting a full season championship with no points resets, like we had from 1975 through 2003, but we got as close we were ever going to get — a return to a (slightly altered) version of the 10-race Chase that launched back in 2004 (and similar setups in the O’Reilly and Truck series as well).

In the Cup Series, 16 drivers will qualify for a 10-race Chase based on the points scored during the 26-race regular season. For the O’Reilly series, 12 drivers will qualify for a 9-race Chase; and in Trucks, 10 drivers will qualify for a 7-race Chase.

Each series points leader will start the Chase with a 25-point lead over 2nd place, and 35 points more than the 3rd place driver; while the final Chase driver in Cup will be 100 points back. From that point, it’s a battle between the 16 drivers with no further resets. Most points at the end wins.

Read on for my thoughts on the 6 biggest upsides of this new era for NASCAR, which alongside the recent 23XI/Front Row court settlement brings much-needed healing to the sport after a tumultuous 2025.

NASCAR and its fans have been on a collision course with uncertainty.

As we neared the end of the trial based on the lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports after refusing to sign the charter agreement, it was entirely possible that the future of how NASCAR was operated would be in the hands of a judge — and those running the sport weren’t going to like it one bit.

Jim France’s testimony was the harbinger of doom that seemingly lit a fire under both parties to get together and talk, and try to figure out a way to make concessions that made both sides happy enough to move forward with an agreement and end the court case.

And then, in just a couple hours on Thursday morning, lightning struck, and the teams and NASCAR came to an agreement. Judge Bell happily announced the settlement, hinting that it should have happened a long time ago, and the jurors were dismissed much to their delight.

After all the vitriol, the “redneck” jab from NASCAR brass, strong comments about Jim France from the 23XI camp, and a year-plus of turmoil, the teams ultimately got what they wanted — including evergreen charters and better overall terms — and the sport is better off for it long-term.

“Standing up isn’t easy, but progress never comes from staying silent. The reward is in knowing you changed something,” Denny Hamlin posted on social media after the settlement.

“From the beginning, this lawsuit was about progress. It was about making sure our sport evolves in a way that supports everyone: teams, drivers, partners, employees, and fans,” 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan said. “With a foundation to build equity and invest in the future and a stronger voice in the decisions ahead, we now have the chance to grow together and make the sport even better for generations to come. I’m excited to watch our teams get back on the track and compete hard in 2026.”

In one week, an exciting title battle will take place in a motorsports finale.

After a bad strategy call from the McLaren team allowed Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen to claim the victory in the Qatar Grand Prix, the 4-time defending champion moved up to 2nd in the Formula 1 standings, just 12 points behind points leader Lando Norris. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri is also still alive in the points, 16 points back.

With 25 points up for grabs to the winner at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there are scenarios where Norris, Verstappen, Piastri each emerge as the 2025 champ.

Will Verstappen, who was more than 100 points out of the title fight as recently as August, complete a miraculous comeback and claim his fifth straight championship?

Will Norris hold off his two competitors and claim his first championship?

Can Piastri overcome the longest odds of the top 3 to become one of the youngest F1 champs ever?

Natural is better

What’s the lesson of all this? It shows that natural championship battles are much more engaging than anything that is manufactured, as we’re seeing in other racing series.

A curious thing is happening in NASCAR’s B-series, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity), as we head into 2026.

This series, which has been dominated by Chevy and Toyota teams in recent years (especially by Chevy and JR Motorsports), will have essentially no presence from Ford teams in 2026.

The news has long been out that Haas Factory Team will switch from Ford to Chevy starting in 2026 in O’Reilly Series, and today it was announced that RSS Racing will be moving from Ford to Chevy as well, and continue partnering with Haas Factory Team.

What it means is that, from a distance, it looks like Ford is giving up on the series for now. No major teams are currently affiliated with Ford, and anything that remains (Potentially AM Racing, and some of the backmarker teams who help fill out the field) is not going to earn them many strong finishes.

As someone who has watched teams like Roush Racing and Penske Racing dominate this series in the past, that’s tough to see.