Carson Hocevar and Joey Logano shared their thoughts regarding Kyle Larson’s recent comments to the tweak the points format believing that stage points play an oversized role in crowning a NASCAR Cup Series champion in the current Chase format.

Larson has made it abundantly clear he’d like to see a change to the stage points seemingly preferring they be done away with altogether in a number of media appearances over the last month or so. 

He originally told Motorsport.com, “I think this format really rewards consistency, but I guess it rewards consistency throughout the whole race, where I think if we really wanted to get back to the authentic part of our sport that we used to have, I think going off of just finishes would be the most authentic way to crown a champion at the end of the year.”

He added, “This is coming from somebody who is up there in stage points, as well, throughout the season. Without stage points, we would be further down. I don’t even know if we’d be in the Chase without stage points.”

“So, yeah, I think I’m open to it. And I don’t know if they would make a change or not while still having stages, but yeah, I think stages, they seem to just be crazy important, which it is what it is.”

He then appeared on the Dale Jr. Download and called for the format to be tweaked, “I think the objective is to be up front all race long not just finishing well. As you’ve seen, stage points have been ultra important. Selfishly, for a team that has been running up front all race long, yeah, it’s been great.”

“But then I also look at a Ryan Preece. I don’t think he’s been out of the top 10 yet in the Chase, but I bet he’s in the single digits in stage points earned. He’s still buried in points,” Larson said. “I’m not asking for changes every year to the format, but I still think there’s some tweaks that could be made. I do believe that stage points are potentially too important.”

While he would like to see some tweaks to stage points, Larson shared how he prefers this format to the previous playoff format and how it also puts to rest whether or not the title was actually earned.

“But It’s still been a nice change of pace compared to what the playoffs were,” he said. “Whoever ends up winning the championship at the end of the year, I think everybody can agree that they were a deserving champion, where in the last few years there’s always been an argument on that. Kudos to the change. I think it’s been fun. I think the pressure of it has been a lot of fun.”

“But I still think there are some things to look at to make it even more pure and authentic, which as true racers is what we would hopefully want,” Larson concluded.

Ahead of the Cup Series race at Las Vegas, he reiterated, “I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into that. I just recognized throughout the Chase especially that it seems very important. I mentioned it on there, and correct me if I’m wrong, I could be off, I think Ryan Preece has finished in the top 10 every race in the Chase, four top 10s probably, or he’s been right around 10th every time, but he’s probably got 5ish stage points in the Chase and he’s not made any ground up it seems. So he’s probably got one of the better average finishes of all of us yet he’s stuck because others get good stage points, have a rotor failure, or a crash, and they earn almost as many points as he does.”

“I see the upside of states because people want to argue, ‘Yeah, you should be rewarded for running up front all race long.’ But there’s also the side of it that you should be rewarded for just good, consistent finishes even more than what it is right now.”‘

“I just think we’re the only series that gives out those little participation awards mid-competition,” Larson concluded.

“We’re the only series that gives out those little participation awards mid-competition.”

Kyle Larson on the oversized impact of stage points in the Chase: https://t.co/4Q31xoyEsr

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 3, 2026

When asked if the stage points needed to be tweaked, Logano shared his thoughts, “No. No. Again, we put those there for a reason. I hate how our sport goes in cycles to where all of a sudden we don’t like it again. There was a reason why we put stage points in the race because everyone was complaining about running in the top 5 the whole race and then you blow up, or you wreck, or something happens and then you finish 30th and you have nothing to show for your good day. Well, now you have something to show for your good day. That’s why we put it there.”

“And it puts intense moments into the race earlier on,” he continued. “It makes the fans more engaged. That’s why we did it. Let’s not lose sight of why we did that. So, no, I think it’s what it should be. I like it. I think it’s good. I’d hate to go back on that too as we’ve gone back on so many things lately. I think you’ve got to keep that.”

As for Hocevar, he said, “I don’t think so. I don’t think you should stack the deck for the guys that are running lower. I think that it’s rewarding the guys that are running good all race. I don’t think we need to start tweaking it. I think we need at least probably 2 or 3 years of data points to see how this format works with the way it is.”

“The more we change it, the more confusing it’s going to be for all of us. And if we’re confused, we’re in the sport, it’s very confusing for the guys that are in the stands and don’t follow NASCAR until it’s on their TV.”

Logano and Hocevar disagree with Larson and say not to think about touching stage points. https://t.co/OC7jE546g0

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 3, 2026