Steve O'Donnell shares his perspective on playoff system, as he includes Christopher Bell in his theory

Steve O'Donnell revealed his 'behind closed doors' conversation with Christopher Bell about the playoff format. The NASCAR president shared Bell's concerns over the single-race title decider and how it might deter aspiring drivers.

Ever since the New Hampshire playoff race, reports have emerged about NASCAR's consideration of the full-season points format. Falling viewership numbers and the waning popularity of the playoffs seem to be the root cause of the discussion.

Denny Hamlin previously noted that the final four championship race is not a large enough sample size to crown a champion. He wanted a longer runway into the finale since anything can happen in that race and derail a season-long dominance.

Echoing the sentiment, Steve O'Donnell shared an anecdote on the latest episode of Dale Jr Download.

"Christopher Bell. Guy who will come in have a conversation with me behind closed doors, 'Hey man. If I roll off ten wins in a year right and I go to one race and a couple other guys get into me or whatever and I'm not the champion. Okay four years in a row that happens. I don't want the next Christopher Bell, who's ten years old right now thinking about NASCAR, wanting to go to NASCAR, wanting to be a champion, say 'Huh, this is a little bit more of a chance on a one race right,'" he said. [0:17 onwards]

Last Month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. prediced that NASCAR will probably go for a three or four-race title decider. However, he did note that no playoff format will be perfect.

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Steve O'Donnell shares origin behind the Next Gen package

On the same episode of Dale Jr. Download, Steve O'Donnell discussed the introduction of the Next Gen package. He explained how the sport was going down a 'path of destruction' when teams had to manufacture 'every part and piece' of a car.

The Next Gen Era was born as a result, as per the NASCAR chief.

"The idea around the NextGen car was, can we come up with a model that brings the cost down, brings some new ownership, and shores up the current owners to at least make it where you have a viable pathway to go forward," Steve O'Donnell said.

The racing product has suffered under the Next Gen Era. Cars struggle under dirty air and overtaking seems real tough unless volatile tires are introduced. The recently concluded playoff race at Bristol speaks to that notion, as extreme tire falloff produced a wildly exciting race, while the Spring race at the same track fell flat due to minimal tire degradation.

Another way to help overtake seems to be an increased horsepower output, as NASCAR recently announced a horsepower bump for certain tracks in 2026. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. previously suggested that it won't cause a 'major difference'.

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Edited by Vignesh Kanna