"If that helps they will leave it alone" - Kenny Wallace reacts to NASCAR's plan for 'little tweak' in points system ahead of 2025 season
Kenny Wallace recently shared his opinions on the news of a "little tweak" in the playoff format for the 2025 season. NASCAR has been buzzing with speculation after the governing body reportedly admitted to reviewing the current points system and considering slight changes before a long overhaul in 2026.
In an episode of "Coffee with Kenny" on X (formerly Twitter), former NASCAR driver Wallace appreciated fans for "raising Cain" after Team Penske's Joey Logano won his third Cup Series championship in Phoenix. While discussions about the current format have been ongoing within the NASCAR community, reports indicate that the sanctioning body will re-evaluate the format during the offseason.
The 61-year-old Wallace quoted renowned journalist Adam Stern's recent report and said:
"So, NASCAR has said they're gonna make a little tweak for next year, per Adam's Stern. But no big overall until 2026. So sounds to me like, You[fans] all are going to get exactly what you want. You're gonna get a little tweak for next year and If that helps maybe they'll[NASCAR] leave it alone. But as far as a major overhaul like a whole different change that might happen in 2026." [2:00]
Stern, in his report, highlighted Logano's average finish this season, writing:
"Dissension appears to have reached a fever pitch this year after Logano broke the record for having the lowest average finishing position for a champion in NASCAR history at 17.1, according to media reports."
The SBJ journalist also cited a senior executive who suggested the format is shifting towards entertainment, rather than pure sport. He also outlined various scenarios for playoff qualification.
"One of the people said that topics that should be examined include whether a win should automatically qualify a driver for the playoffs, as is the case now, and possible changes like whether the regular-season champion should get locked into one of the latter rounds of the playoffs, whether the final round should have more than four drivers, and whether the final round should be contested over multiple races instead of just one," Stern reported.
"It's scrambled eggs right now" : Kenny Wallace makes his feelings known on selecting three racetracks for the final championship round
In the aforementioned "Coffee with Kenny" video, former Fox reporter Kenny Wallace touched upon the idea of using three different racetracks for the final round of the NASCAR season, rather than focusing on a single track as is the current playoff format.
Wallace said:
"I would like to see three different racetracks, two or three different racetracks determine the championship because I said I don't like it that you have the final four champions and then a jack breaking...something happened and that determines your championship[...]. So my three championship race tracks would be Phoenix, short track intermediate, kind of like Miami Homestead, and then I'd like to go to Vegas. Those are my three tracks." [7:39]
Wallace concluded by saying:
"But one thing's for sure it's scrambled eggs right now. Nobody knows what the hell they want I want this well, then I want this, and I want that. I told you what I thought." [9:56]
NASCAR fans on X criticized the playoff format after the year-end statistics showed the dominance of drivers like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.