Brad Keselowski bluntly slams NASCAR’s “demeaning” system: “Has to go away”

Brad Keselowski shared his thoughts about the NASCAR playoffs and slammed the current system. The Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver, in a recent interview, stated that he wanted the current playoffs system to go away.

Keselowski sat with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, where he participated in the customary tradition of answering 12 questions. In one of the questions, Keselowski was asked about the things that need to happen to increase NASCAR's popularity.

Answering it, the RFK Racing co-owner delivered three pointers. He stated that the tracks need to find more ways to generate revenue, and the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers such as Toyota, Chevrolet, and Ford) need to advertise the sport to make it more popular.

Interestingly, Brad Keselowski's third pointer was about the change in playoffs. Speaking about this, here's what the #6 driver said:

"The whole playoff thing has to go away. The nuance of having 10 races that are more important than 20-some others is very unhealthy for the sport. It’s demeaning to the other tracks and races. And unfortunately, those 10 races that are supposed to mean more are in direct competition with other sports. It muddies the water. It’s not working for the sport."

The current Cup Series playoff system includes 26 races in the regular season championship, where 16 drivers qualify for the NASCAR playoffs. Then starts the 10-race playoff part, where four drivers get eliminated after three races each, known as the Round of 16, 12, and 8.

In the end, only four drivers remain for the one ultimate trophy. The driver who wins the final race is crowned as Champion. The championship system is far from different from how Formula 1, MotoGP, or other racing series are calculated, where the driver with the most points ends up winning the race.

---

Brad Keselowski let his feelings known after losing out Bristol race win

Brad Keselowski shared his thoughts after he lost the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing. The RFK Racing driver came home in P2, just shy of the race win after the late restart at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Speaking about this, here's what he said:

Brad Keselowski (6) at Bristol Motor Speedway - Source: Imagn

“Just the story of our season, just a 50/50 shot on the restart and I got the lane that couldn’t launch,” he revealed in a post-race interview with USA Network. “Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, put ourselves in position to, if not to win, at least have a really, really solid day, and on that last restart, just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good.”

Keselowski started his race from 18th place after an underwhelming outing on Saturday. Despite starting from 18th place, he went on to finish Stage 1 in eighth place and then improved further to fourth place in Stage 2. In the end, he lost the race to Bell by just a 0.34-second margin.