Joey Logano has noticed something about NASCAR’s new Chase format compared to the previous one: wins matter more than ever.
Speaking during a NASCAR media Zoom earlier this week, the three-time Cup Series champion said the biggest thing that has stood out to him during the 2026 Chase is the value of winning, particularly when a victory is combined with strong stage results.
“To me, we all knew what the math was going in, but to see it in action, it appears so much more dramatic,” Logano said.
That comment has also opened up a bigger debate among NASCAR fans.
Is the Chase really creating the drama, or is NASCAR’s new points system doing most of the work?
NASCAR’s new points system is changing the championship battle
NASCAR made significant changes to its championship format for 2026, bringing back The Chase while moving away from the elimination-style playoffs that had been used in recent years.
But perhaps the most important change is in the points.
A race win is now worth 55 points, compared with 40 under the previous system. Drivers can still collect stage points throughout the race, meaning someone who wins while also running near the front for the entire afternoon can score an enormous number of points.
That was deliberate. NASCAR wanted victories to carry more weight without going back to a simple “win and you’re in” system. The top 16 drivers in the regular-season standings qualify for the Chase, and all 16 remain in contention throughout the 10-race championship stretch.
But seeing those numbers play out on the track is a different story
Kyle Larson showed that at Kansas.
Larson won both stages and the race, collecting 76 points in one afternoon. He entered the race just eight points ahead of Denny Hamlin and came out of Kansas with a much larger advantage.
That is a huge swing from one race.
And the same works in reverse.
A driver who has a poor afternoon can lose significant ground while another driver puts together a big points haul. Under the new system, a bad finish is not just about losing positions on the day. It can have a much greater impact on the championship standings because of how much a rival can gain at the same time.
Tyler Reddick’s season provides another example.
Reddick had built a huge regular-season points advantage earlier in the year. NASCAR reported in August that his lead had once approached 130 points, but a difficult stretch, including several finishes outside the top 30, saw that advantage disappear.
That happened before the Chase even started.
Now add the postseason points structure to the equation and the potential swings become even more obvious.
A driver can spend several races building momentum, lose it with one bad result, and then watch another contender erase a large deficit with one dominant weekend.
That is the volatility Logano was talking about.
And it is why some fans are starting to question whether the biggest change in NASCAR’s championship battle is actually The Chase itself, or simply the way the points are being distributed.
So has The Chase become redundant?
This is where the fan debate gets particularly interesting.
The original idea behind a playoff system was to create a distinct championship race at the end of the season and make the final races feel different from the regular season.
But the 2026 version of The Chase is very different from the elimination format NASCAR fans became accustomed to.
There is no Round of 12. No Round of 8. No Championship 4.
All 16 Chase drivers remain eligible throughout the 10-race postseason, with the championship ultimately going to the driver who has accumulated the most points.
That effectively turns The Chase into a concentrated 10-race championship battle rather than a series of elimination rounds.
And that has some fans asking an uncomfortable question:
If the points system already rewards winning so heavily and creates huge swings from one race to another, what is The Chase actually adding?
Some fans will prefer the season-long nature of the new format, particularly because a driver cannot simply survive one round and then reset for the next.
Others may argue that removing eliminations has taken away part of what made the NASCAR playoffs unique.
But there is another argument emerging: perhaps NASCAR’s new points structure has already created enough drama on its own.
The Reddick example shows how quickly a huge advantage can disappear. Larson’s 76-point haul at Kansas showed how quickly a single dominant race can reshape the standings.
And with wins now worth 55 points, the difference between simply having a good day and actually winning can be enormous.
Everyone knew the math. Nobody quite knew how dramatic it would look.
And that may be the biggest story surrounding NASCAR’s new Chase.
The format has certainly created movement in the standings. The question fans are now debating is whether that drama comes from The Chase, or from a points system that has made every big run, every victory and every bad finish matter more than ever.
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