“NASCAR your turn”: Fans react as Dirt Late Model Series confirms major formay change for 2026 season

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has announced its departure from a NASCAR-like playoff format to the traditional full-season points system in 2026. Fans took notice of the news and urged the sanctioning body to follow suit.

On December 11, FloSports acquired the late model dirt series with plans to continue operations with existing staff. The move comes after the passing of Forrest Lucas, founder of Lucas Oil products and longtime series owner.

Just days after the change of hands, the series has made a major overhaul to its championship format.

"BREAKING NEWS: @lucasdirt will return to a full season points format for the 2026 season." (via X/FloRacing)

The decisive move uppends a three-year long existence of the playoff format, which initially began as a one-race playoff in 2023, before expanding to multiple races in 2024.

Here are some fan reactions to the announcement:

"@NASCAR your turn," commented an X user. "Props to LucasOil series for recognizing and making changes fast. if i recall correctly they changed it a bit after year one when RTJ got screwed, it still wasnt great so they scraped it completely after year 2? Tried it, quickly pivoted," penned a fan. "Good. I just don’t think playoffs belong in racing or at least a short sprint format," another said. "You mean they realized it was a bad idea and went back to what works? What a concept," a fan wrote. "Good call! Thank you for listening to the fans!," another commented.

NASCAR's recently concluded antitrust trail has eroded a lot of goodwill towards the sport. Although the settlement offers little comfort for teams, fans of the series have been clamouring for a return to the season-long points format. This would be the perfect time to announce the same and regain public sentiment.

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Kyle Larson remains steadfast in avoiding a NASCAR-style playoff format for High Limit Racing

Kyle Larson co-owned dirt racing series, High Limit Racing, recently concluded its third season under the traditional points system. The series is bound for a franchise-like model in 2026, much like NASCAR's current charter system.

Reflecting upon the same, Larson was asked whether HLR will incorporate the playoff system as well.

"I would hope, and I’m pretty certain, that will never happen in sprint car racing. Like, even the late model playoff that they have, I think, is better than what we have in NASCAR, but still it’s not like, I don’t know. It’s not fair. Or not the fairest way. To me, it doesn’t even really add that much excitement at all to a dirt season," Larson replied on the latest episode of High Limit Room.

HLR's franchise model comprises of ten teams based on the top finishers in the last two years. The teams will divvy up a $18 million prize pool over a four-year period.

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Edited by Vignesh Kanna