There’s been an age-old battle in NASCAR as to how to determine a champion. Should the champ be the winningest driver or the driver who was the most consistent through the year?
A winless driver has never won the Cup championship, but guys with just one win have. It has not been unusual for the winningest driver not to win the title.
While that may have been one of the things that drove NASCAR to try the new playoff system, more than anything, it was the desire to ensure that the championship battle goes down to the final race, rather than being decided with, say, three races to go.
I believe the format they came up with works. And, they did a nice job finding the balance, in the post-season, between encouraging and rewarding wins during the regular season and consistency of performance. Just ask Martin Truex, Jr. how big that balance is. That’s the only reason he’s still alive in the playoffs.