Even though NASCAR referred to the Round of 16 and the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoff schedule when the 2026 race dates were announced, NASCAR executive Ben Kennedy said that didn’t mean the post-season format for next year had been finalized.
“I know the playoff committee has had a number of meetings over the past several months on different formats that we could look at, and they’ve run a handful of simulations on just various formats, collected some fan feedback,” said Kennedy, NASCAR’s executive vice president, chief venue and racing innovation officer. “I know there were conversations as early as a couple days ago on what the future of the playoff format looks like.
“We want to make sure that we take the time to do it right, that we collect as much information as we can, and hopefully, whatever this new format is, if there is a new format, it’s something that will last a long time.”
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule shows the playoffs beginning with the “Round of 16” at Darlington on Labor Day weekend. Then the series moves to St. Louis and concludes that round at Bristol. It then states the “Round of 8” kicks off at Phoenix, with Talladega and Martinsville being the other two races in that round that leads to the season finale.
Comments