CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Opinions are varied on how NASCAR should crown its champion. Some want playoffs while others want season-long points.
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Brad Keselowski has a straightforward idea, one that brings to mind a famous quote from late Raiders owner Al Davis — "Just win, baby."
"If Jim France called me and said, 'Brad, you're in charge. King for a day,' I honestly think that the points format should be reflective on wins, and the tiebreaker should be the final race," Keselowski said ahead of the NASCAR Awards.
"And that should be it."
Keselowski added an interesting wrinkle to this plan. He said that he'd rather not have points at all unless they needed to form some sort of tiebreaker.
This way, drivers couldn't win the championship by simply pairing dozens of top-fives and top-10s with a solid average finish as Matt Kenseth did in 2003. The wins would be the defining factor that determined which driver ended the season as champion.
This would be key for Keselowski, who said that he has a hard time understanding how the drivers with the most wins don't routinely win the championship.
Two prominent examples of this are last season when Kyle Larson missed the Championship 4 despite leading the series with six wins and the 2020 season when Kevin Harvick fell short of the championship race after winning nine times.
"My preference is making a season where every race matters, and I think that's important for our fans too," Keselowski said.
When the topic of crowning a champion surfaces, it's inevitable that certain arguments will enter the conversation. The first is that the current playoff format delivers "Game 7 moments" and prevents one driver from locking up the title with weeks remaining in the season.
These moments include Tyler Reddick's gamble to take the high line in the final turn at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Ryan Newman moving Kyle Larson to take the final spot in the inaugural Championship 4.
Having a system that solely relies on wins does come with the risk of eliminating these moments. If Larson leads the series with eight wins, he will be the champion.
There may not necessarily be a final battle for the title in the final race of the season. Although the level of parity in the Gen 7 era has paved the way for more drivers to win races.
Another argument made in support of the current playoff system is that the best teams in other sports don't always win the championship.
The 16-0 New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the 10-6 New York Giants. The 14-2 Baltimore Ravens lost in the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs to the 9-7 Tennessee Titans. These are only two examples.
Keselowski pushed back on that argument.
"We keep getting caught up in comparisons to other sports," Keselowski said. "In a lot of ways, we're better. We have all of our competitors compete against each other every week. We have incredible fan access, great partners.
"I don't want to be the NFL. I don't want to be hockey. I don't want to be MLB. I don't want to be any of those sports. I want to be us. And if we can be the best us we can be, I think people will love it."
