Chase Elliott made it to the Round of 12 by the skin of his teeth. After suffering a race-ending crash, his chances appeared slim. But results elsewhere helped him continue his bid for the championship.Elliott had a difficult night during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Bristol, when he was involved in an accident at the end of the race, which caused his car to hit the outside wall after contact with John Hunter Nemechek.The accident also ended the race early for Elliott, marking his second DNF of the year. It was an ill-timed collision because Bristol was the first playoff elimination race. He was in a slender points position and was even momentarily worried that his championship bid might be coming to an end.Chase Elliott wrote on X:"Survived ❌ Advanced ✅ On to the Round of 12"Although he crashed, Chase Elliott made it to the next round, the Round of 12, by a narrow margin. He finished Bristol five points above the cutline, thus becoming the 12th and the last driver to make it. The other drivers had to play the role of determining his playoff fate. But luckily for Elliott, Alex Bowman failed to close the gap in time.Chase Elliott gives his backing to the rumored 3-3-4 NASCAR playoff formatChase Elliott has voiced his support for NASCAR's rumored 3-3-4 playoff format, which could replace the current 3-3-3-1 system starting in the 2026 season. Elliott explained that the new format, featuring two rounds of three races followed by a four-race final round to crown the champion, would be "better than what we have" because it offers a larger sample of races to decide a champion.This would reduce the possibility of a championship being derailed by a single bad race or an event completely out of a driver’s control, making the playoff outcome feel fairer. He said to Dalton Hopkins:"I think it would be better than what we have...Because you just have a larger amount of races at around to decide. You know, it could, it would, seemingly, would give an opportunity to, you know, have something that's totally out of somebody's hands, not completely derail their championship. What is nowadays, you know, their shop. So, it seems like, is it perfect? Probably not. But I would say that that sounds better." [00:10 onwards]Elliott conceded that while the 3-3-4 format isn’t perfect, it’s a clear improvement as it rewards consistency across multiple races instead of relying heavily on a winner-take-all finale. He contrasts this with the current system, where one mishap in the final race can abruptly end a driver’s title hopes regardless of their season-long performance.Elliott’s perspective carries weight given his experience as the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and his struggles and successes under the current playoff design.