NASCAR Cup Series star makes prediction ahead of championship format announcement

Brace yourselves, NASCAR fans. The day has nearly come. We will soon know the format that will decide which ways championships are won in 2026.

NASCAR confirmed last week that it would be announcing the new championship format on Monday, January 12, at 3:30pm ET, with the press conference from North Carolina set to be live streamed on NASCAR.com, The NASCAR Channel, and NASCAR's YouTube channel.

It is the moment that the entire NASCAR community has been waiting for since the stock car racing series first confirmed they had put together a new playoff committee in January 2025 in order to debate and consider tweaks to the current format for this upcoming campaign.

Several ideas have been floated about the format NASCAR could go to, with options such as a full 36-race points championship, a chase-style postseason, and a revamped 3-3-4 playoff format having all been heavily debated in the community over the last 12 months.

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. previews huge NASCAR announcement

Whatever format NASCAR decides on, current Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is predicting there to be a greater incentive on points and racing to secure them.

“I think NASCAR's done a good job collaborating with drivers and teams and trying to come up with the best solution for competition and crowning our champions,” Stenhouse told FOX News.

“So, I've been through different iterations of the format and the way things have worked.

“It's going to come out on Monday. I assume there's going to be more points-incentive type racing. Obviously, you still want to win races and put yourself in the best possible position to be in the playoffs.

“I'm going to start with trying to win the Daytona 500, February 15th on Fox... we have (won before), and we're looking to do that again.

"Come Monday, I'll probably have a little bit better idea of exactly what the format's going to be."

No change in strategy

If there is the shift Stenhouse Jr. is predicting, the Hyak Motorsports driver says it certainly won't change his strategy for races, and certainly not the season-opening Daytona 500.

“I don't think so," he replied when quizzed on that. "Definitely not the Daytona 500.

"You kind of run the Daytona 500 of, 'hey, I want to finish the race,' because you've got to finish the race to win, obviously.”