“It’s all about winning until you get to the playoffs”: Brad Keselowski calls out ‘strange’ NASCAR format amid his near-misses

Brad Keselowski pointed out the 'completely inversed' notion of what the playoff format has become. The RFK Racing driver admitted that the playoffs have largely become a points-scoring game where consistency matters more than race wins.

Keselowski's words were evident when Christopher Bell blasted his crew over a solid P7 at Gateway. While his crew chief was happy with the points haul, Bell expected to win in a race-winning car, given how his teammates, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin, won back-to-back races in the opening rounds.

A recent example of getting ahead on points is Joey Logano, who entered the post-season with a single win in the regular season. However, with consistent top-5 results in the last three rounds, the No.22 driver has managed to save himself from elimination and is now ranked sixth, one spot below the season's most winningest driver, Denny Hamlin.

Keselowski, meanwhile, failed to qualify for the playoffs but finished second in the playoff race at Bristol. On the latest episode of Stacking Pennies podcast, the No.6 driver went over the current state of the playoffs, saying,

"I've had like eight second-place finishes in the last two and a half years. And that, you know, you got to make your seconds, wins in the sport. You know, the format until you get to the playoffs is about winning." [36:17 onwards]

"It's strange to me that it's all about winning until you get to the playoffs. And it's not at all about winning once you do get in the playoffs. It's about consistency, like raising your points threshold to a certain number to advance....It's completely inversed of what I think it was represented to be at least on the onset of where winning matters more in the regular season, less in the postseason," Brad Keselowski added.

In line with Keselowski's comments, Joey Logano recently spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR radio and admitted that surviving the playoffs through points has better odds than wins.

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Brad Keselowski reveals worrying issue in NASCAR's business model

On the same episode of Stacking Pennies, Brad Keselowski discussed NASCAR's business model failing in terms of track revenue. NASCAR reporter Steven Taranto shared the excerpt on his X handle.

“The tracks aren’t able to generate revenue on their own, they’re wholly reliant on the TV money… They’re comfortable with that which is the scariest part of all,” Brad Keselowski said.

As a further stepback, NASCAR's ratings have also plunged. The recently concluded Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway saw a drop in viewership compared to last year's outing.

The playoff race received a 0.70 rating with 1.29 million viewers, while last year's NHMS race recorded a 1.0 rating and a viewrship of 1.88 million. Waning popularity of the playoffs, combined with competition from NFL and Formula 1 are believed to be contributing factors.