NASCAR Playoff Trivia
by Tom Jensen September 13, 2024
Twenty years ago, NASCAR introduced a playoff system, one of its most radical NASCAR competition changes of all time. It continues today.
In December 2003, just prior to the NASCAR Awards Banquet at the Waldorf Astoria New York, the sanctioning body made a shocking announcement: Starting with the 2004 season, the Cup Series champion would no longer be determined by points earned during the entire season, which had been the method of crowning the champion since 1949.
Instead, the schedule would be split into two parts. The first would be the 26-race regular season, after which the top 10 drivers in points would compete for the championship in a 10-race shootout. Drivers outside the top 10 would still race, but they would not to be eligible to win the title.
Beginning in 2004, NASCAR introduced a new format to determine who would become the Cup Series champion each year. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
The playoff format has gone through many tweaks since then, expanding from 10 to 12 drivers in 2007 and finally 16 drivers in 2014, when NASCAR decried that the champion would be decided in the final race of the year. The top four drivers in points – labeled the Championship 4 – would start the last race of the season tied in points. Whoever had the best finish of those four drivers in that race would be crowned champion.
Over the last 20 years, the playoffs have brought drama, excitement and unpredictability to the title hunt.
After besting a 10-driver field to win his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2006, Jimmie Johnson (front row, second from left) won again in 2007, when the playoffs expanded to a 12-driver field. Photo courtesy of Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images
Now that the 2024 Cup Series playoffs are here, here’s a little bit of championship trivia to test your playoff knowledge.
1. Where was the first NASCAR playoff race contested?
A. Atlanta Motor Speedway
B. Charlotte Motor Speedway
C. Darlington Raceway
D. New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series title race from 2004-2019, with Team Penske’s Joey Logano capturing the 2018 championship. Photo courtesy of Robert Laberge/Getty Images
2. Who is the only crew chief to win championships in the playoff era with multiple drivers?
A. Chad Knaus
B. Paul Wolfe
C. Jimmy Fennig
D. Adam Stevens
3. Who has the most second-place points finishes in the playoff era?
A. Tony Stewart
B. Jeff Gordon
C. Denny Hamlin
D. Martin Truex Jr.
Team owner Jack Roush (left) and driver Kurt Busch celebrated in New York City after winning the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Photo courtesy of Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR
4. Which of these drivers failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2004?
A. Kevin Harvick
B. Elliott Sadler
C. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
D. Mark Martin
5. Hendrick Motorsports won championships with three different drivers in the playoff era. What’s the only other team to repeat that feat?
A. Joe Gibbs Racing
B. Team Penske
C. Stewart-Haas Racing
D. Richard Childress Racing
In 2021, Kyle Larson won a record 14th NASCAR Cup Series championship for team owner Rick Hendrick. Nine of the 14 came during the playoff era. Photo courtesy of Christian Petersen/Getty Images
6. Who is the only driver in the last 10 years to win the last race of the year but not the championship?
A. Denny Hamlin
B. Alex Bowman
C. Ross Chastain
D. Chris Buescher
7. Who is the youngest champion in the playoff era?
A. Kyle Busch
B. Kurt Busch
C. Chase Elliott
D. Joey Logano
8. What were the playoffs originally called?
A. NASCAR Championship Chase
B. Chase for the Sprint Cup
C. Sprint for the Championship
D. Chase for the Nextel Cup
9. What year in the playoff era did Joe Gibbs Racing win its first championship?
A. 2004
B. 2005
C. 2006
D. 2007
10. Jimmie Johnson (Class of 2024) won 83 Cup Series races in his career. How many of those victories came in playoff races?
A. 9
B. 19
C. 29
D. 39
Inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2024, driver Jimmie Johnson (left) and crew chief Chad Knaus won seven NASCAR Cup Series championships together, all during NASCAR’s playoff era. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Ferrey/NASCAR via Getty Images
ANSWERS
1. Correct answer: D. The first NASCAR playoff race was the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 19, 2004. The winner was Kurt Bush, who used the victory as a springboard to his only NASCAR Cup Series championship and the second consecutive title for car owner Jack Roush (Class of 2019).
2. Correct answer: B. Team Penske crew chief Paul Wolfe won two titles 10 years apart. Wolfe was the championship crew chief for Brad Keselowski in 2012 and for Joey Logano in 2022.
3. Correct answer: D. In addition to winning the 2017 Cup Series championship, Martin Truex Jr. was runner-up in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
4. Correct answer: A. Although he would go on to win a title in 2014, in the first year of the NASCAR playoffs, Kevin Harvick failed to earn one of the 10 playoff spots, ending the season in 14th place.
5. Correct answer: B. Team Penske won championships with Brad Keselowski in 2012, Joey Logano in 2018 and 2022, and Ryan Blaney in 2023.
6. Correct answer: C. Ross Chastain won the Cup Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway in 2023 but was not one of the Championship 4 drivers and thus was not racing for the title. Chastain ended the season ninth in points.
7. Correct answer: C. Chase Elliott won the 2020 championship three weeks before turning 25, making him the third youngest champion in history behind only Bill Rexford, who was 23 when he won the 1950 title and Jeff Gordon, who was 24 when he won his first of four titles in 1995.
8. Correct answer: D. When first introduced, NASCAR’s new championship system was called the Chase for the Nextel Cup, a title it kept from 2004-2007, before becoming the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
9. Correct answer: B. Joe Gibbs Racing won championships with Hall of Fame Class of 2020 drivers Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Tony Stewart in 2002. The team’s first of three titles in the playoff era was won by Stewart in 2005.
10. Correct answer: C. Jimmie Johnson won 29 playoff races. Three times during his career – 2004, 2007 and 2010 – he won four of the 10 playoff races that season.
