What more could you want in NASCAR playoffs? Nothing at all

The 2024 NASCAR playoffs are finally here. As the green flag looms at Atlanta Motor Speedway, one question dominates my brain.

What more could you want?

OK, you back there with your hand raised and your threadbare 1998 NASCAR 50th anniversary Chase Authentics T-shirt on, I know what you’re going to say. I want the old championship format back, from when men were men and stock cars were really stock and we determined a champion by nothing more than adding up points!

First, let’s be honest here. The old format wasn’t awesome. Yes, every now and then it was, but there’s a reason we still talk about Alan Kulwicki edging out Bill Elliott in 1992 and Darrell Waltrip upsetting Elliott in 1985 and Richard Petty schooling a much younger DW in 1979. Because most of the other title bouts weren’t bouts at all. Trust me, I was born in Rockingham, and I’ve lost count of the number of times we saw a team celebrating the clinching of a Cup title at The Rock, usually very early in the race — and there were still two whole races left to run!

Second, the old format was last used in 2003. That was four years before the introduction of the iPhone. Beyoncé had just gone solo. Ty Gibbs had just celebrated his first birthday. That system debuted in 1975 and lasted 27 years. The Chase/playoffs era is in its 21st year, so asking for the old system back is like demanding the return of asbestos paneling and downloading songs off of LimeWire. It’s not coming back.

Third, stock cars haven’t been stock since, I dunno, 1966? If ever? Sorry, but it’s true.

And fourthly, can we stop with this idea that today’s racers aren’t tough enough? Martin Truex Jr. grew up being tossed around in the Atlantic while hoisting up gigantic nets full of sea creatures. Daniel Suárez just piloted an exploding fireball down the pit lane at Daytona. Kyle Larson has walked away from more god-awful crashes than Ryan Gosling in “The Fall Guy.” Is that Dale Earnhardt driving bulldozers or Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly banging airplane wings as they raced to the next track? No, but that’s not fair. That’s like comparing the people who build houses now to the ones who built the…