As NASCAR has evaluated the future of the playoffs, the 36-race format has taken a more prominent role in the conversation.
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This doesn't mean that NASCAR will scrap the playoffs and the eliminations ahead of the 2026 season, but it marks a significant difference from last offseason when this debate truly picked up steam as Joey Logano won his third title.
So what changed in little less than a calendar year?
"The 36 format has had such a loud drum beat as of late because I think most of the industry is realizing it's probably the best for the sport," Keselowski said in response to a question from The Athletic's Jeff Gluck on Saturday at Talladega.
"There's a number of reasons for that, but (it's) also because the sport has kind of revealed itself to be heavily influenced by its own spin, so to speak. So I suspect that drum beat will get just louder from more and more voices."
Several people have weighed in on the subject of the 36-race format vs. the playoffs over the past year. Some media members, fans, and drivers have expressed their appreciation for the drama of the elimination format and the "do-or-die" setup of the championship race.
The three-time champion Logano is a notable advocate for the elimination format and the one-race championship. He's repeatedly pointed to the drama created in cutoff races, including at the Roval when Ross Chastain spun himself and Denny Hamlin in a last-ditch effort to advance to the Round of 8.
"The playoffs create drama," Logano said on pit road after the Roval race. "It creates storylines. It creates awesome moments like that. I don't understand what people don't like about it. I really don't get it.
"And if you're one of those people that say the regular season doesn't matter and playoff points don't matter, one point would have been the difference there."
Others have taken a different approach. They have expressed the opinion that the 36-race format is the best method for truly determining which NASCAR driver deserves the championship.
Some detractors of the elimination format have used the term "gimmicky" during debates about the sport.
Keselowski has spent his NASCAR career racing under some form of the elimination format. He won his Cup Series championship under the 10-race Chase format, and he reached the Championship 4 twice between 2014 and 2025.
Yet, he falls into the latter group that believes the 36-race format is the best for NASCAR now and well into the future.
"Ultimately, I do think that the 36-race season format is what's best for the sport," Keselowski said. "It's not my decision. It'll come down to the France family making that decision, and I respect that. They own the sport, and they have every right to make that decision.
"But if you look at this sport holistically, NASCAR was built on the concept of races connected with a championship — and it has shifted to a sport that is now a championship connected by races. Inherently, that removes some of the big-event feel that I think made NASCAR so special in decades past."
Keselowski indicated that a season-long format would lead to 38 "big events" — the 36 points-paying races, the Clash, and the All-Star Race. He said the sport needs this to endure.
The 2012 Cup Series champion is not the only prominent personality who has voiced this opinion, but as he noted, they aren't the ones making this decision. It will be up to NASCAR leadership to ultimately decide if it prefers a 36-race format or an altered version of the playoffs.
