Chase Elliott makes a strong case for additional NASCAR off weekends citing benefit of drivers and teams 

NASCAR: Cup Series Playoff Media Day - Source: Imagn
Chase Elliott - NASCAR: Cup Series Playoff Media Day - Source: Imagn

Chase Elliott advocated for adding more off weekends and called it a 'healthy' practice to 'make people hungrier'. He was even open for an expanded Cup schedule as long as it provides a structured calendar that helps prevent burnout.

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The current Cup calendar allows only a single off weekend during the Easter break. In a change of pace, the 2026 calendar has introduced an additional break between Indianapolis and Iowa, but the series could use some more as well.

Back in June, teams experienced travel snafus when moving to Mexico City for the inaugural Cup race outside the U.S. Many were stranded at the Charlotte airport and the weekend schedule had to be adjusted for delayed arrivals. A break leading up to the event could've gone a long way in easing up the logistics.

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Elliott echoed the sentiment in an episode of The Teardown podcast.

"Increasing the off weekends I think would be a win for everyone and make people hungrier for what we have and what we do on a weekly basis. So I think that's a, you know, would be a healthy thing," he said. [0:31 onwards]
"I'm fine running if we were to want to run 50 races....Totally fine, you know, racing as much as they want to race. I just think the calendar, your time that we burn up is what we could help with and creating some hunger in those off months," he added.
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Chase Elliott enters the post-season with seven playoff points to his name. Ryan Blaney’s win at Daytona helped secure a playoff berth for HMS teammate Alex Bowman, while Elliott snapped a string of poor results with a top-10 finish.


Chase Elliott 'fired up' about NASCAR's playoff format

Chase Elliott reflected on the impending playoff stretch and described the final few races as the most exciting part of the season. He explained that it's easy to fall into a lull midway through a season, and how the playoffs seem to pick up his spirits due to it's high-stakes environment.

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"For me, those last 10 are...they feel like the sport should feel to me. It just makes it really easy to get up and get excited and get fired up and do your homework and everything else, because you know what's on the line,” he said via X/SiriusXM NASCAR radio.

Despite no wins in the initial stretch of races, Elliott managed to rank second in the driver's standings purely based on his top-10 finishes. His solitary win at Echopark Speedway got him into the playoffs and he briefly led the standings before William Byron regained the top spot.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma
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