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Jimmie Johnson Talks Noah Gragson | Should the Playoff Format Change?

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Thumbnail Cred: Getty

0:00 Legacy MC Expectations
4:03 Jimmie talks Noah Gragson
6:54 Playoff format
9:48 Kaulig teases announcement

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45 comments

DennyDelivers September 11, 2023 at 7:22 pm

if truex gets eliminated only 3 weeks after being the regular szn champ… all the steve’s are gonna get banished to the shadow realm by every nascar fan

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Jake Dodson September 11, 2023 at 7:32 pm

The entire NBC broadcast team should be banished for eternity

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cadillacjohn1994 September 11, 2023 at 7:34 pm

@Jake DodsonAgreed, except for Dale Jr. I like him on the NBC broadcasting team.

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Jason Straight September 11, 2023 at 7:34 pm

With all due respect, that’s like saying something is wrong with the NHL playoff format after Boston choked in the first round last year.

Nothing is to be blamed for this except Truex’s team.

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Lord_Foxy13 September 11, 2023 at 7:47 pm

Was that a Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged reference

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cadillacjohn1994 September 11, 2023 at 7:23 pm

SOMEWHAT UNPOPULAR OPINION: The playoffs are okay the way they are, but… as a personal preference… I’d like to see the old Winston cup points system come back.

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Josh Davis September 11, 2023 at 7:31 pm

That would definitely improve the current abomination that is the playoffs

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PowerSteer September 11, 2023 at 7:33 pm

I like the playoffs but the small effect of playoff points needs to be doubled

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John LaFever September 11, 2023 at 8:06 pm

Boooo! Leave the points alone!

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Jesse Daly September 11, 2023 at 8:08 pm

Absolutely Not!

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Iceman September 11, 2023 at 7:27 pm

4:17 one of the many reasons Jimmie I’d my favorite. I don’t agree with Nascar/Legacy suspending Noah, but considering how Jimmie keeps in touch with Noah as some sort of support that’s something that makes me happy.

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Kevin Harvick is not happy September 11, 2023 at 7:33 pm

Theres no way to fix the playoffs other then a regular season points standings or just burning the playoff format

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Warren Goesle September 11, 2023 at 7:37 pm

If Kaulig puts Hocevar into the #31, I would hope he also gets several shots at their Xfinity cars as well. He will need all the seat time he can get.

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John Haas September 11, 2023 at 8:38 pm

It’s going to be interesting Friday or Saturday to find out who is going to be in the 31 and 16. Carson is the favorite for the 77 though

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Jacob Wilson September 11, 2023 at 11:05 pm

@John Haas unless Kaulig could go “BOLD” and get Carson Hocevar and in fact my “BOLD” driver for Kaulig is Carson Hocevar even though he’s still a good choice for #77 though, but I would see Ty Dillon will get release from the #77 reguardless even if Carson Hocevar drives for Kaulig. But we will see.

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GMan September 12, 2023 at 12:05 am

Community driver would do better. And bring better sponsor’s

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GMan September 12, 2023 at 12:08 am

We need to change the atmosphere. There are older drivers that deserve a chance. There are drivers that can wheel a car better than most. Change the atmosphere. The East and west is dead. Takes to long. Make it happen.

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kB fan 8 September 11, 2023 at 7:37 pm

I’ve noticed that Wendy’s black rifle coffee haven’t been on the 42 car since Noah has been suspended so I hope that they are staying loyal to him where every he goes.

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Michigan Railfanner September 11, 2023 at 7:47 pm

They are definitely on his political side (the correct one) so I’d hope they do

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feeb September 11, 2023 at 8:25 pm

Or they just cut their contracts and distanced themselves from the sport and the incident. With Wendy’s this is 100% the case black rifle maybe

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Ryan Scott September 11, 2023 at 9:10 pm

Wendy’s was a Noah sponsor and so was Black Rifle. Once he was gone, their money was gone too unfortunately.

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WhatAboutTheBee September 11, 2023 at 10:12 pm

Sponsorship is a commercial matter. A corporation wants its products to be viewed positively, a negative view is absolutely avoided.

The sponsorship provided to the 42 car and Noah was toast the second that Noah got suspended.

When this news broke, folks will examine WHY he got suspended. Quite a few folks would have a negative view. Many will have no view or simply not care. It is hard to understand how you could have a positive view of the situation. Of course, I’d like to hear how the situation creates goodwill or how it is to be viewed in a positive way.

This places the sponsor in a position of the public having a negative view of their product, due to association of the product with Noah. That isn’t just Noah, but also the car.

Of course they pulled their sponsorship.

You will note this has absolutely nothing to do with Noah’s ability to drive a car.

It was a commercial decision.

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Turbo Dodson September 11, 2023 at 7:38 pm

I always suggest we flip the playoffs. A “wildcard” race for the round of 16. Followed by the normal three race round, including 3 races for the championship four. Maybe it would add legitimacy for the champion and even after a bad race in the wildcard race, someone like truex would easily move on to the round of 12, rewarding regular season performance.

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Beast Rover September 11, 2023 at 7:46 pm

This is actually a good idea.

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MLGProSwag69 September 11, 2023 at 8:58 pm

We already have a wildcard round, it’s the Daytona regular season finale.

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John Danelek September 11, 2023 at 10:38 pm

@MLGProSwag69 more like the Daytona 500 itself… that’s your wildcard race right there (if you look at the last 3 years anyway)…

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Elijah JP September 12, 2023 at 12:01 am

I was going to say that NASCAR should just do a 9 race playoff with 12 drivers getting in and then what you said afterwards, or just have the regular season champ have a bye until the Rd of 8, but I like this idea.

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Lance Ephraim September 11, 2023 at 7:38 pm

If you’re gonna give the regular season champion a bid into the Champ 4, then you need to also have playoff points carry over into the Phoenix race. This would eliminate someone just sitting out the nine other races in the playoffs because if they do, the other competitors would surpass them in the amount of playoff points earned. I think a one round pass is a good idea, I’d even go as far to say give them and automatic spot in the round of 8.

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Sean Lewis September 11, 2023 at 8:01 pm

IMO, the current playoff format is ok, but I would tweak it in two ways, 1)drop from 16 to 12 cars making it 2)eliminate first 4 after 3 races, eliminate 4 more after 6 races and the final 4 have 4 races and whoever scores the most points is the champion. It will make the regular season more compelling especially if you have more than 12 winners. Then points come into play.

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Jesse Daly September 11, 2023 at 8:13 pm

No first round bye. This is so ridiculous. Truex has the biggest advantage going into the playoffs over any other driver. All they had to do was not screw it up and they would advance. If Truex doesn’t advance that’s on him and his team. They got outran by Carson Hocevar at Darlington. That’s on them. We don’t need to rewrite the rules every time the favorite gets knocked out. They still have a chance to sack up and run good At Bristol.

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dileblade765 September 11, 2023 at 8:42 pm

Playoffs are fine as is. Its entertaining and fun to see the pressure rise in the situation and sport.

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ROGERRRR PENSKEEEEEEEEE! September 12, 2023 at 9:40 am

The Playoffs are decent as they are, but I feel like it could be much better.

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Johmp September 11, 2023 at 9:03 pm

newish/newer fan here (started watching in 2014) and as a huge sports fan of other series, the playoffs are what brings me back to nascar at the end of the year. I feel like a season long format would work but i likely wouldn’t tune into the last 10 weeks like i do now

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Ethan Sanchez September 11, 2023 at 10:21 pm

I get that but I wonder how a season long format would play out

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billy88joe September 11, 2023 at 9:24 pm

The championship format is perfect, we still get the classic Winston Cup points battle for the regular season, the prime Winston era was usually 29 races a year so is 26 really that different? Then we get a thrilling playoff format that rewards regular season either thru winning or consistency, if Truex didn’t win the regular season title he practically would be in a must win situation at Bristol despite having a awful first round.

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MyDogFulton September 11, 2023 at 9:25 pm

There is a boost in new fans. It’s evident on social media. Changing the format only confuses them and angers the long standing fan. No more changes for many many years.

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billy88joe September 11, 2023 at 9:32 pm

It also should be noted that with the parody of the next Gen car we’re not seeing guys get 50+ playoff points like they did. I’m not 100% certain but 35PPs is gotta be the lowest a #1 seed has had since 2017 so the margin for error is a lot smaller even for the top seeds. Is that really a bad thing, we complain about how the Round of 16 has been pointless and now complain when we see a championship contender finally trip up in September

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Trucker Cowboy Ed September 12, 2023 at 12:00 am

Never can please this fanbase lol…they cried about the chase so they came up with the playoffs, now they want a 10 race shootout again to determine the champion..you can’t make this stuff up…

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Splash September 11, 2023 at 9:38 pm

I just became a fan in 2019 the playoff format is what brought me to the sport I’d be kind of disappointed if it’s changed you should have to earn it every round

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Himself & Snipo September 11, 2023 at 10:13 pm

Everyone complaining about the playoffs format needs to remember that if Truex has 2 bad days like that with full season points he’s not the championship favorite anymore either way. Technically regular season points champion is just the leader after race 26. Plus Byron and Hamlin both had significant penalties that affected their performance in the regular season championship

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tedioussugar September 12, 2023 at 2:19 am

Truex having two bad races under the old format would mean he lost the lead of the championship. It didn’t mean his championship hopes were evaporated entirely. The guy is still arguably the most consistent driver this year.

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James West September 11, 2023 at 10:25 pm

I wonder how “fans” would feel if a championship 4 driver (especially a fan favorite) broke a single source part on lap 5 at Phoenix. I wonder how fans would feel if a championship 4 driver wins due to a lightning hold or rain? Man, that sounds so awesome. That’s such a legitimate way to crown a champion…

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Tina September 12, 2023 at 12:30 am

I agree 100% that they were going to get rid off Noah no matter what,

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Drakksy September 12, 2023 at 3:11 am

The precedent was set already for Noah. Should be getting a ride with Hendrick next year.

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John Haas September 12, 2023 at 10:40 am

Doesn’t have the talent Kyle Larson does and there’s no room for him and Noah wouldn’t fit in with His personality unless he’s stops The personality of a frat boy or wild child. Larson was most likely going to be at Hendrick Motorsports anyway in 2021 since he was in the last year of his contract and Jeff really wanted him

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