Jeff Burton is either lying to protect NBC, which he works for, from fan backlash, or he just blew the narrative that TV is the reason NASCAR remains committed to a Playoff format out of the water. Burton was the special guest on this week’s Door Bumper Clear Podcast, where he talked about TV’s involvement in the Playoff format decision process, and Burton says at the end of the day, contrary to popular belief, TV doesn’t make the call.
“Hold on a second. I hear that all the time, and I want to be clear about something, and I’m in these meetings. TV doesn’t make these decisions,” Burton stated emphatically. “NASCAR makes these decisions. When this format that we are currently racing under was created, I was in every damn meeting. TV didn’t make this decision. They had a seat at the table, as did drivers, as did car owners, as did NASCAR, as did the tracks, and TV didn’t say, ‘Here’s your format, this is what we are doing.’ That’s not how that happened, and the fact that people think that’s how it happened, I don’t know where that’s coming from. And if anyone thinks TV wrote a prescription, here’s how you’re going to do this, that’s bullshit.”
Here's what @JeffBurton wants fans to understand about TV's influence ????? @FreddieKraft | @TBR7NY | @KarsynElledge3 pic.twitter.com/kidAfvxjRy
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) September 16, 2025
Burton’s claim that TV doesn’t make the call is a completely different tale from what was described by Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, who has been part of NASCAR’s first-ever Playoff Committee.
In an edition of The Teardown Podcast from July, Gluck explained that the Playoff Committee had gotten together for a pair of meetings, once at Daytona in February and again in Charlotte in May. According to Gluck, the Playoff Committee had not even had a chance to discuss formats in the two meetings that had been held.
But Gluck explained that the consensus from those in the meetings was that when it comes to NASCAR’s Playoff Format, the system we have in play right now simply doesn’t pass the smell test, and that the majority of the room was in favor of a change.
“This is what I can tell you, the first meeting was in Daytona [in February], and the second meeting was [during] Coke 600 week,” Gluck explained. “I would say there was a lot, there was a ton of movement toward [The Playoff Format] is definitely going to change. I would have told you a few weeks ago that there was probably a 90-95% chance that the one-race Playoff was dead next year. I would think it was going to be gone. The room, everybody just started talking about — there’s been a lot of talk about the credibility of the format, and why there needs to be a bigger sample size, and all of the stuff that you hear people talk about.”
While the room was in favor of a change to the NASCAR Playoff Format, Gluck explained that NBC, which was in the meeting at Daytona, was the lone exception when it came to shaking up the way NASCAR decides a champion each and every season.
“That’s the hang-up,” Gluck said of TV partner NBC, which has possession of the television rights of the final races of the season for the next seven years. “NBC, obviously, has signed up for over $1 billion a year. They’re obviously broadcasting the championship round. This is where it gets difficult for me, because I wish this were not the case at all. I wish TV didn’t have this big of a voice. I wish NASCAR was just going to say, ‘Here’s what we think we want to do, here’s what this committee is saying, blah, blah, blah, here’s what Mark Martin is saying,’ or whatever it is. But TV wants a Playoff. They want eliminations, and I don’t know exactly what they want, but they want something close to what is happening now. They don’t want to go too far from that, too radically different.”
Gluck’s view of things from inside the Playoff Committee meetings couldn’t be any more different than Burton’s view of things on Door Bumper Clear.
However, if Television truly doesn’t own any part of the decision-making process for the NASCAR championship format, that is ultimately good news for fans.
The overwhelming majority of fans have let it be known that they’ve grown tired of NASCAR’s current Playoff format, which has been around since the 2014 season. And a growing number of fans are seemingly in favor of NASCAR scrapping Playoffs altogether in favor of the classic full-season points format, which was last used in 2003.
The conversation amongst fans, which was already ongoing, erupted after Joey Logano captured the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship with arguably one of the worst seasons for a champion, statistically. What has ensued is the age-old debate of gimmicky entertainment versus crowning a legitimate champion.
Logano only worked his way into the 2024 Playoffs by way of a strange five-overtime finish at Nashville Superspeedway, which saw Logano go from the 15th position at the time of the opening caution to seal a Playoff berth with a win.
Once in the Playoffs, Logano was eliminated from championship contention at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL in the Round of 12, but a disqualification of Alex Bowman in post-race inspection allowed Logano to rejoin the Playoff field.
After a fuel-mileage strategy win at Las Vegas in the Round of 8, Logano was able to head to Phoenix Raceway, a track that Team Penske has had figured out for the last several years, where he cruised to his third-career championship.
NASCAR, which announced the 2026 National Series schedules last month, has yet to announce the official Playoff format that will be used next season, but an announcement on the format for the 2026 season is expected to come sooner rather than later.
