Brad Keselowski was not a fan of NASCAR‘s previous championship format. The driver of the No. 6 recently reflected on how vocal he was to the sport’s higher ups to make a change.
With the old win-and-you’re-in, elimination-style format, the Michigan native felt there were races during the regular season that didn’t matter.
In turn, the return to the Chase format ahead of this season was a positive change in the 2012 Cup Series champion’s mind.
Brad Keselowski on the previous playoff format: ‘Killing the sport’
With Dale Earnhardt Jr. on vacation, Keselowski filled in as the host of Tuesday’s “Dale Jr. Download” with co-host TJ Majors, Keselowski’s spotter in the Cup Series.
During the episode, the co-owner of RFK Racing was asked about the return to the Chase points format. Keselowski said where a driver is in points is more “relevant” today, which has him checking the standings more often in 2026.
Mostly in private, Keselowski expressed to NASCAR that he wasn’t a fan of the last playoff format. He recounted a conversation with President of NASCAR Steve O’Donnell around 2018 where he voiced his opinion on the points system.
“I told them, ‘Dude, the playoff format’s killing the sport.’ I remember he said to me, ‘What do you mean it’s killing the sport?’ Well, I had won two or three races earlier in the year. I’m in the middle of the season and I go to the racetrack and I’m asking myself, ‘What am I doing here?’” Keselowski said.
Previously, a win all but guaranteed a driver a spot in the playoffs, while a driver with multiple wins never missed the playoffs.
Keselowski went on to say he remembers sitting in meetings and being told he wouldn’t get the best equipment as it needed to go to a teammate of his that wasn’t locked into the playoffs.
Because of this, many races during the regular season felt pointless.
“You couldn’t even really be mad at the team. Putting yourself in their shoes, they’re like, ‘Man, we’ve got to get our other cars in the playoffs,’ so you couldn’t really be mad at them, you just felt trapped by the format. That was a lot of what was happening,” Keselowski said.
Brad Keselowski believes they aren’t ‘skipping’ races under Chase format
Unlike the last playoff format, Keselowski is a fan of The Chase returning for this season.
The 42-year-old feels like he’s not being shafted with the lesser equipment and that every race this season matters.
“I like this format because there’s no race where the team’s like, ‘Hey, you don’t get the good engine.’ I really appreciate that because I don’t feel like we’re quote-unquote skipping races,” Keselowski said.
Brad Keselowski has competed in all four races to start the 2026 season, despite suffering a broken femur last December. The 36-time Cup Series winner posted a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500, his sole top-five finish of the campaign.
Keselowski sits 16th in the Cup Series points standings, currently the last driver in The Chase. He is two points above Daniel Suarez in 17th.