Big Changes Coming to the 2025 Playoff Schedule | NASCAR Power Rankings!
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- Fan favorite tracks are moving OUT of the Playoffs next year. Are you surprised? Do you like the replacements?
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0:00 2025 Schedule Changes
5:54 Power Rankings after Loudon - Sport
I’ve heard moving Homestead to the spring is to give them plenty of time to do possible renovations to prepare to get the Championship weekend back
One can only hope
The finale should be in Homestead!!
Thats the only reason to move it
Makes sense if that’s the case. I can wait another year if it means that we end the 2026 season in sweet sweet Miami
I mean would it actually help? Why not start them right after the playoff race in the fall lol
"What’s that? Ah - Playoffs? Don’t talk about - playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!"
- Kyle Busch fan
as a Kyle Busch fan i can say i agree
I'm not even a Kyle Busch fan, but I want to see him win this year mainly because it'd be really cool to see someone have 20 straight winning seasons.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that the 24 is the 5 team, the 5 is the 48, the 48 is the 88, and the 9 is the 24. That makes the quirks of the teams make a lot more sense. I know they're barely even the same teams that they were when Hendrick rebranded, but they sure act like it.
4 flat oval races in next year's playoffs makes it seem like they are trying to ensure Christopher Bell wins a championship lol
They moved Homestead out of the playoffs to remove the comparison to Phoenix, Change my Mind.
Phoenix is guaranteed playoff as long as the City of Phoenix has a contract that they pay NASCAR to race the championship there that's fact so it's all about money when it comes down to where the championship race will be and that's why it's been at Phoenix which I don't know I don't like that track cuz of that get down in the past the finish line making out of bounds line doesn't really matter we're going to get what we get or rather we're going to get what they give us it's not about us it's about the money for NASCAR I believe most of those tracks in the schedule change our NASCAR on track except maybe one or two possibly I heard Eric's mentioning that
I can't
Only choice we have is to boycott Phoenix tickets, I know I do my part already
idk what is worse… the fact that homestead isn’t gonna be in the playoffs, or that fox is gonna be the one covering that race 💀
It’s 1 year in order to get Homestead as the permanent home in 2026 going forward
It'll be nice not roasting in the stands at Gateway for once. Hope they make it a night race too
Right there with ya! Got burned really bad this year
I hope homestead can be the 2026 championship race!
Me too, @masont2008. Me too.
555 days left till 2026.
@@masont2008 sounds like it will be if Miami uses the more than a year and a half to upgrade their facilities
Maybe have Michigan or Pocono instead of New Hampshire, like maybe not another flat track with mid racing (yesterday was a once in a lifetime happening), also i think if nascar gets rid of the roval, they need to keep the glen, their needs to be a road course in the playoffs to add to the drama factor
POCONO love it!!!!
@@psinclairjr fr, like it needs two dates now, every race in the next gen has been a sell out, New Hampshire hasnt had a sell out since the 2000s 2010s
@@RG5Gamin New Hampshire was nearly a sellout this weekend despite the weather, and I guarantee a fall race would only increase the attendance. I'm biased as a New Hampshire resident and I really like Pocono but I just don't think it would benefit from two dates
I am screaming for Pocono in the play-offs! Especially if they decide to go to Europe annually and race on Lausitzring.
@@RG5GaminI go to every NH race, and the grandstands are always extremely packed and the fans are loud and proud…the northeast is a HUGE market for nascar.
The reason the ST. Louis Indycar and nascar races are flipping is because there are a lot of races close to the Bommarito 500 (Indycar race) in the near or surrounding area. Indycar and WWTR agreed to move to the date as to make it a little easier on fans and logistically. The truck series race is moving back to Indycar weekend as well, and the xfinity series will share the cup series weekend.
New schedules always get me excited!
But not some of the playoff changes @ericestepp
Honestly, seeing Gateway in the playoffs would be an awesome sight, but I would love for Miami to return to championship weekend with maybe some more stands going up or possibly a repave or something that can better the track for a championship weekend
Gateway sucks
@@williamsiebert9830 how?
Eric! We really enjoy your videos. Please please continue to keep it family friendly. We appreciate your insight and videos so much. There are a lot of other podcast and videos we can't listen to because the language is too fluid in curse words. Thank you for keeping it clean, please keep up the great work! One of our favorite weekly segments is your "power rankings".
He is the best of the best!
👀👂Homestead requested the early date to accommodate their renovation schedule. Early 2025 gives them lots of time to prepare for the 2026 finale, without missing a year.
NH is my home track, and I am probably more likely to attend if it is in September vs June, but as one of the furthest north tracks it always made more sense to me to stick in in the middle of the summer instead of forcing fans to suffer further south somewhere else during the peak of summer.
I hope the Gateway date isn’t moved too far back in the season to where I cannot attend. I work in Indiana during the summer time and I’m not too far from that track. Hopefully I’ll still get to go because that track is very fun! Keep up the great work Eric, love all your videos!
Miami going to the spring is best if they want the championship race in 2026. It gives them a lot of time to renovate the facilities.
Like Fontana ?
Well NASCAR knows how to just kill any sort of happiness the fan base has at any given time. It’s a gift.
I really wish we didnt have the playoffs system, because there would be way more discussion about Elliots insane consistency this season so far. Under the Winston format hed have like a 150pts lead over 2nd, T-3rd most Top 10s (2 behind leaders Bell and Reddick), T-2nd in Top 5s (7 to Larsons 8), and is the only driver with a single digit average finish this season, with the next lowest all being 13s (his is like a 9.5). Hes having a Matt Kenseth-esque year.
At least you finally took Alex Bowman out of your power rankings, but I still don't understand how he gets an honorable mention for blowing a motor and finishing last
Yesssss we got our playoff race back New Hampshire!!!!!
Thank you for being a fan of the NH move Eric! The 9 of us that camp it in a group every year were all talking about how we want it back in the fall. Hopefully we'll get dryer weather then.
My hope is homestead is using an early date to remodel the rest of the year until the championship race for 2026
That should be what is happening I believe
CBell, the driver I like the Best, I believe is learning HOW to win more this year. He's beginning to LOOK, and MORE importantly, ACT like a Champion. There's still a LONG way to go, but I believe he's trending, even MORE than last year, on becoming THE MAN to beat for being a Champion .
So losing three good racetracks to three mid at best tracks in the playoffs, got it.
Well Darlington is Goated but gateway worst track in nascar and New Hampshire is pretty bad. Darlington is the Kevin Harvick of the group. CARRIES
Watkins Glen was never gonna stay more than this year. It's only there to begin with because of the Olympic break, Darlington was only out because of the break too
Olympics is killing NBC race coverage for NASCAR and Indy car.
I hate it every four years and it floods all channels with crap no one will watch the rest of the time.
Does anyone watch Olympics these days? I mean I don't care or watch it. Now if they had motorsports in the Olympics I would watch.@@NeedsLessWedge
@@NeedsLessWedge yeah horse chariot races , lancing and gladiator comps are gone....
I think North wilkesboro should be in the final 10 races as a cup race
Good luck with Marcus Smith even giving North wilkesboro a points date. My opinion the only way he's going to do that is if the state or local government pays him to do it. Vegas only got a second race because of money that SMI is getting
homestead kind of reminds me of atlanta in that it’s a former championship venue with genuinely good racing, it’s becoming more and more appreciated with hardcore fans and drivers, yet losing relevance with the casual audience and poor attendance issues at the same time. atlanta was saved in a unique way, maybe homestead will too
Atlanta is my home track and it's always worth going to. Even when the race on tv wasn't good the racing at the track live was always great. The new track just that's up a notch.
WHAT! I did not expect Homestead to be out.
I really like the video! And I totally agree that homestead Miami is in danger due to it's unfortunate removal from the playoffs.
Freddie Kraft on DBC said that NBC wanted the St.Louis market to have a playoff race. SMI wanted the same number of playoff races as last year, so when Atlanta moved to July, New Hampshire and Texas were the only viable options to replace it.
If Gateway can backup the experience they had this summer but in a St. Louis Fall which can be a coin flip between Hot, cold, or misty. It might be a great time and experience in the playoffs. Although I can’t confirm this because I’ve yet to visit another track yet
From a native of St Louis MO good luck getting anyone in the seats at Gateway in August/September/October especially if the Cardinals are in the Playoff hunt. As a NASCAR guy myself and a Cardinals fan, you really can't pull St Louis fan from the Cardinals.
They need to fix the racing at Phoenix. Its appeal to NASCAR is the weather. Almost guaranteed to not get rained out.
So hyped for a NHMS playoff date!
Agree with most of your power rankings, I feel like Bowman got shafted a bit, but other than that it was solid. My championship 4 prediction as of right now is Elliot, Bell, Larson, and Blaney.
That’s a good prediction. I could swap Blaney and Chase for Hamlin and Willy B. But that’s splitting hairs at this point. The weird thing with Chase is he’s the most consistent of the 6 drivers but the least likely to win a race (at the moment). With that said, it is just a question of time until he completely figure out the next gen car.
It's funny how I've been lukewarm on the idea of Atlanta in the playoffs this year, yet my reason why completely changed after the spring race.
Before the race: "Eh, I don't know if two superspeedway races in the playoffs is such a great idea."
After the race: "Oh god, we have to wait seven months for the next race here? I can't wait that long to see more of this phenomenal racing!"
think you over did the bell call. i enjoy your work
I'd like to see a championship finale rotation between Phoenix, Homestead, Auto Club, and Rainbow Road. They all have their upsides and a rotation adds an element of surprise each year.
I think your rankings are pretty much spot on .
Would love to watch a race where M.T.J’s pit crew helped him rather than hinder him , they have cost him wins this season .
Also , Hamlin better watch his back , his leaning on people or wrecking them is going to bite him back real soon .
As a fan that has gone to Gateway every single year since 2022, I am very excited for a playoff race in STL. Also it has been hot as hell the last 3 years and it will be nice to watch the race in cooler weather.
Gateway is my home track i have loved going these past few years but i am really excited about the idea of not burning up in the heat of June it was brutal being in the stands this year
This was made for Christopher Bell. He's going to dominate in the flat tracks. I'm actually glad NHMS is now in the playoffs, it's not exciting in the dry but it's very fair and the weather should be really nice and cool in the fall.
I would love to see Nascar race at somewhere like Brands Hatch in England.
EE I don’t remember you saying anything about overtime last night….. I might need to say with ice man for my post race content when I miss the event due to work.
The Power Rankings segment is probably my favourite segment of the week.
Get rid of Phoenix!!!!!!!!!
Patience young padawan
And maybe next they’ll get rid of Rochmind 😂
If only
@@kylitoshowRichmond is probably losing a date to Mexico City
I don't see Phoniex on the schedule.
I’m excited to see Watkins Glen in the playoffs and same for Atlanta after this past 3 wide finish
Atlanta and Watkins Glen are LOSING playoff spots, not gaining. 0:47
@@jaredchampagne2752 I know I’m excited to how it shakes up since it is the playoffs this year
Bell move from #7 to #2 feels like an over correction. My guess is Eric was influenced by Bell winning the Xfinity and Cup. So it felt like 2 wins in cup instead of 1... at a track him and Toyota are amazing at. I would have put him at 4th. Chase is still the point leader (tied with Larson) and was running well before the rain. Hamlin looked like a potential winner (with Truex) before the rain. So, not enough for me to pass in front of Chase and Hamlin just yet. If the same thing happens next again, then yeah... at 2.
Christopher Bell the last 6 races. Average finish 5.5, 2 wins, 3 top 5s, 5 top 10s, 326 laps led. He’s a blown engine away from having 3 wins in less than a month. Bell deserves to be ranked where he is.
Hamlin has had 3 horrible weeks in a row don't know how he would still be 2
@@nigel0 agreed that C. Bell is hot right now and deserve a high spot, but for me you don't just go from #7 to #2 in just 1 week. Maybe Eric should have moved Bell earlier. You can make the argument that Denny has had 3 bad finishes in a row so maybe move him up, but Chase was 4th and 3rd in the two race before.
@@briansalsberg7097 That's a fair point. Move Denny to 4th, Bell 3rd, Chase 2nd. Then the week after, if Bell does better than Elliot, move him second. My argument has more to do with how fast Bell moved from 7 to 2nd in 1 week. In the past, Eric has been very conservative with the top 4-5 spots.
@@nigel0 In last 10 races, Bell has a 13 finish average and Chase 8.1. With that in mind, you can move Bell from 7 to 2 passing a driver like Chase after 1 "bad" race.
Love the power ranking, but bumping Chase down to 4th and bell all the way up to 2nd is crazy. I would’ve kept Chase top 3 and moved Bell up to 5th.
Playoff Gateway? I'm sold
Nhms...
2018, 2021, 2023, and 2024... have had severe weather disruption and issues 4 of the past 7 years...
When only 2 of race weekends have been routine (2019,2022) not saying much
Maybe back to September will do us a favor
Will there be 2 races? One regular season and one playoff race? I’ll be so happy if we get two races here…😅
I think it's great they are changing things up for the playoffs.
I hope this trend continues year after year.
Christopher Bell will lose the championship the same way how people thought it was Brad's to lose in 2020 after he won New Hampshire and Richmond. That aged wonderfully
The moving of Gateway was to be expected, as IndyCar will race at the track in June next year. That's why NASCAR is moving its races to the fall.
Gateway in June can get really hot. I remember years ago it got so hot the track was tearing up. So maybe that's why the change.
Can you please stop ranking Blaney so badly on the power rankings? He’s ran top 5 the past 5 weeks and just gets unlucky. I just don’t understand how you can put Keselowski above him
Exactly. Qualified 2nd. Ran in the top 5 most of the day. Didn't have the speed to beat Bell, but was still very stout.
Gets taken out in the last few laps through no fault of his own.
Eric needs to move him up
When I was making my perfect schedule I actually had NH, and Gateway in my playoffs! I also had Homestead as the 2nd race of the year as well as the last! If anyone is curious I’ll put my playoff list down below
I don't think we are giving Larson enough credit for being tied for the point lead. Th guy skipped the highest points paying race of the entire year and STILL is the points leader after just a few weeks. He's so good at 1.5 mile tracks too, it's a safe bet to say Larson would've been in contention for a max points day at the 600 and could be 70 points above the entire field right now.
Ummm... He's in 1st place and glorified left and right, what else do you want??
@@mgm1356 I haven't heard a single person talk about how crazy it is that he skipped the highest points paying race and is still leading the points. Ya obviously, everyone talks about how good of a driver he is and what not, but to miss out on an entire race worth of points and still be leading is crazy.
The 12 has been consistently one of the best cars every week the last 5 weeks, not his fault he gets wrecked out by others (should have two wins). Deserves to be higher
That does indeed race good!! It needs to score a 9 or 10!!!
Darlington, NH, and Gateway? Yes please!! Also please change the roval to the oval permanently. I think they should have 2 or 3 tracks that cycle every year for the championship as well.
That's interesting
They should consider moving Atlanta Motor Speedway was the regular season cut off and allow Daytona to have it's historic July 4th Weekend slot
I couldn't be anymore excited for the 2025 schedule
The championship race has to be in the south cause it's to cold everywhere else in November
I personally loved the championship weekend at Homestead. As for road courses in the playoffs, leave Watkins Glenn in the playoffs and get rid of the roval in general.
I can't wait to go next year to gateway, my local race track ❤
There are there types of racecar drivers in the world my friend. those who do the running over , those who get ran over and those who run themselves over.
Not a big fan that 3 of the 10 playoff races are now flat mile tracks. I prefer to see some more diversity. But I like that Atlanta got moved out only need 1 superspeedway race in the playoffs
I think Nascar needs to have a variety of different tracks in the play offs I think we need a road course in each round and also a 1/2 mile to 1 mile for 1 race a road course or super speedway but if we get 1 the other must be cut off race to make play offs
Then 1.5 mile or 2 mile race
We need a variety of different races to test the talent of the drivers and make sure they are capable of competing and getting top 5 finishes to get the championship
i feel like there should be one track for every type of track in the playoffs, put drivers to the test every week
YEEEEES!!! NH in the Play-offs! The racing wasn’t the greatest (before the rain) but Goodyears compounds mixed with cold weather have made the best racing on short tracks this far. I really wish I didn’t leave the track after the rain (my family thought the race was canceled) but hopefully next year is a sliver of what this race was for the last 80 laps
Hay Eric
I believe why Homestead moving to Spring for 2025 and to me that would be temporary and plus they going to get renovation started for the Championship there in 2026 so I would see Phoenix could lose the Fall Date in 2026 probably for Canada or Rockingham and Homestead in 2026 could replace Kansas.
Finally showing Bell some respect
I was curious of your Larson first explanation. And I totally agree...
Also, I hate New Hampshire...
I think Watkins Glen should stay in the playoffs .
Imagine yesterday’s race as playoff race before it rained. Yay
Bonus laps. Free spin with points multiply for regular season wins
Hot take: get Canadian Tire Motorsports Park back on the NASCAR schedule with a weekend of Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup. As well, cut the Roval and replace it with this in the schedule
Race a combo of a minimum of three tracks for final. Make it top 4 to 8, but give them a road, oval, and speedway.
Christopher Bell will be delighted with a flat oval almost each round before Phoenix next year!
Only thing I disagree with here is not having Elliott somewhere in the top 10 for power rankings, tied for the points lead, has a win, 7 top 5’s and his lowest finish this year is 19th with an average finish of 9.6 which beats the next highest average finish by 2.7 positions
10:40 that is exactly why Phoenix shouldn't be the championship race, it is to much a niche track to be the finally, it should be a generic track that's harder for a driver to specialize at
Keep the Glen in the playoffs. Look up photos of the US Grand Prix when F1 ran there. The fall in upstate New York is beautiful
I swear NASCAR just does the opposite of what we say so in that case I hope Phoenix stays the championship race forever such a wonderful fun track
Forget the track In Florida. Way better tracks around the country
Got a feeling that ole BK was testing something for phoenix and it just didn’t work out.
IF, and it's a big if. If they can fix the tires for "short tracks" for next year, then maybe this will be a good schedule. But based on the package from this year, and their "fixes"? No thank you, I'd rather see all the 1.5 mile tracks in the playoffs.
I don't see any Rhyme or Reason for the metrics you use on your power rankings but will you still have Kyle Larson number one should Kyle Busch win the championship seems to me he can't be dethroned even if he loses races you're hilarious😂
Kyle Busch is gonna be lucky just to win a race.
Because he's stupid he doesn't know f****** s*** and he just makes up his power rankings
So is NHMS going to have 2 dates per year, regular season race and a playoff race, or JUST a playoff race? Ill be so excited if its both, I can see my race twice near home!!!!
No
Word on the street is Ryan Preece very unhappy with his crew and car and words were exchanged
There may be wholesale changes in the coming weeks due to infighting and a toxic environment 😮
Chad Johnson should have been replaced a long time ago he has sucked for ever as a cup series crew chief
@johnhaas2523 oh Mr Haas, what is it about Ryan Preece that your nose is so far up his sphincter?
Johnston has 7 wins as a CUP crew chief
How many CUP wins does Cryan Ryan Preece 😢 have after 170 career starts? 🤷♀️
I know, Ryan done run good in a modified against 23 car fields in which maybe 5 cars can actually win.
The dude DOESN'T BELONG IN THE CUP SERIES 🪠
I’ve always really liked Miami being the final race.
Blaney 9th?? He’s a quarter-cup of fuel and a quarter-panel of McDowell away from winning 2, maybe 3 of the last 4 races. Has to be top 5.
First, make a committe with The King/Kyle Petty, Jimmie, Mark Martin, Mike Helton, DW, MTJ, Dale Jr, One rotating Cup Car Owner, the most recent Cup Champion, 1 from Media (I vote for Eric) and one from Auto Industry to decide Championship Race, i have many honorable mentions for the committee but maybe do rotating positions. I really like Darlington or Martinsville for championship race.
New Hampshire will be a wet weather mandatory race right?
Just curious, how many top 30 finishes do you have in the cup series? My guess is 0
Maybe now that Homestead is not there, it is a ploy to make people miss it and encourage attendance when it comes back
Bell or Truex will win the 2024 Championship. 🤞
What's the awesome power ranking music?
“Gateway” to Phoenix? 🤷 Could be fun weather pending. But I agree too many flat ovals.