Former IndyCar driver open to playoff system despite being 'heartbroken' over NASCAR controversy

Former IndyCar star Townsend Bell recently came out and shared his opinion about the possibility of IndyCar adopting the playoff system. Bell detailed the heartbreak from the recent NASCAR race, but was still open to the idea of the American open-wheel racing series adopting the playoff system.

Townsend Bell came out on the DIVEBOMB IndyCar podcast and shared his opinion about the same when questioned if the series should adopt the idea as NASCAR did over a decade ago. Bell explained how the same didn't reward the dominant drivers in most cases and gave examples from this season's NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity, and Truck series.

Bell explained how Corey Heim, Connor Zilisch, and Denny Hamlin were arguably the best drivers in the respective NASCAR series, but neither of them won the championship.

Townsend Bell went to see the NASCAR Cup Series final with his wife, with the duo not being hardcore fans of stock ca racingr, and we're disappointed when Denny Hamlin lost the title following the green-white checkered finish despite the #11 Toyota leading the most laps and taking the pole position.

However, despite the heartbreak, Bell was open to the idea of IndyCar opting for the playoff system as he explained,

“Heartbroken, but we had an emotional reaction to a NASCAR race as non-hardcore fans. That's the problem. Is that better for growing the sport because you had two non-hardcore fans with an emotional reaction to a broadcast? Is that a way to draw in more fans? The answer is I don't know. I don't know.” (20:05 nwards) “I don't know if that's better or not. But I do know that it would be very disruptive to switch IndyCar to that situation. But what it would address is Alex Palou winning the championship two races early this year, might be five races early, who knows?” “And so I don't think that's good either for finishing things off. Therein lies the rub. It's a complicated scenario. Nobody has the answer yet. And NASCAR has been experimenting. I don't know what IndyCar is going to do. But I'm open to it.”

---

IndyCar President not interested in the series opting the playoff system

FOX acquired a third in Penske Entertainment (IndyCar and IMS) midway through the 2025 season, and presented the idea of the American open wheel racing series adopting a playoff system like NASCAR in a bid to improve the viewership.

However, the same idea received backlash, suggesting that a championship doesn't stay true to the better-performing driver, taking away from the spirit of motorsports. While the idea wasn't implemented, it is still circulating around the paddock.

Amid this, Doug Boles came out earlier this year and claimed the series wasn't interested in implementing the playoff system.

“We pay attention to what others are doing. The one thing I know is that we don't have any interest in doing a playoffs-type situation like NASCAR has. That's not something that's on our bingo card.”

However, Doug Boles was open to the idea of an all-star challenge race.

Edited by Pranay Bhagi