A NASCAR columnist questions whether the sport has lost its edge since changing its playoff format a decade ago, echoing comments by retired star Tony Stewart who criticized the current state of racing as slow and less competitive. The column also notes unexpected developments like Kasey Kahne's comeback from retirement and a scandal involving a scorned wife accusing a NASCAR driver of seducing her husband.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Monday Morning Pit-Stop is a weekly NASCAR column that runs on OutKick.com and Fox News Digital.
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that → run → OutKick.com
If you're looking for a normal NASCAR recap, go check out insufferable ESPN ... assuming they still know NASCAR exists.
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NASCAR → look → ESPN
Feels like we just started these playoffs, and now this new version of The Chase is nearing the finish line.
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version → feel → line
How do we feel about it?
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we → feel → it
This is the first year NASCAR hasn't had it's usual win-and-advance format in over a decade, and I'm genuinely curious how everyone feels.
Have you watched more?
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you → have → more
Do these races have the same fire they used to when every third race was an elimination race?
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race → have → fire
Has it made any difference at all for you?
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it → make → you
I miss the old format.
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I → miss → format
I do.
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I → do → ?
I knew I would.
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I → know → ?
Chase Briscoe won yesterday at Las Vegas.
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Briscoe → win → Vegas
Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick crossed the line while wrecking after Larson hit the wall trying to chase down Briscoe on the final turn.
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Larson → cross → turn
It was a decent race, and a fun finish ... but I just feel like it's lost some juice.
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it → feel → juice
The stakes don't feel quite as high to me.
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stakes → feel → me
I still enjoy it, but these playoffs — or Chase, whatever NASCAR wants us to call them — have just felt sort of neutered.
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us → enjoy → them
And yes, I stole that word from Tony Stewart, who is currently viral right now for some eyebrow-raising comments he made about NASCAR earlier this year.
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he → steal → NASCAR
You'll see.
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You → see → ?
I've got Kasey Kahne, amazingly, coming out of retirement, a scorned wife going after a NASCAR driver after she seduced her husband (true story), and Brad Keselowski has been pushed out the door by his own team, which makes no sense given the team stunk before Brad got there and was actually respectable the past few years.
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Brad → get → sense
I'm not surprised, though, given his partners are associated with my Red Sox, and they're run just about as poorly as any professional sports team on the planet right now.
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they → give → planet
Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the 'NASCAR's Been Neutered' edition — is LIVE!
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NASCAR → neuter → ?
Look, we're gonna break down yesterday's race at Vegas here in a bit.
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we → look → bit
I promise.
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I → promise → ?
Take a look at Saturday's O'Reilly Series ending to see what I mean.
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I → take → what
But first, I do want to dive into these comments from Tony Stewart, which made the internet rounds over the weekend.
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which → want → weekend
Tony, who retired from full-time Cup racing in 2016, has never been known to mince words.
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who → retire → words
I agree with a lot of his takes.
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I → agree → takes
I don't agree with others.
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I → agree → others
For instance, he weirdly bashed fans and the media for mourning Kyle Busch earlier this year because he claimed we didn't care about Kyle Busch "the person" when he was alive.
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he → bash → Busch
So no, I don't always agree with the man they call "Smoke," but I do 100000% agree with him here.
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I → agree → him
Take a look:
One door closes and another opens!
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another → take → look
"I’ll be honest, I don’t even watch anymore," Stewart told the Oil and Whiskey podcast.
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Stewart → watch → podcast
I mean, they’re driving cars with 500 horsepower.
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they → mean → horsepower
When I, at the peak when I was running, we were at 875 horsepower, those things.
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we → run → horsepower
And then they cut the nuts off of them.
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they → cut → them
We went down to a 775 horsepower package and I was miserable.
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I → go → package
I’m like, these things are pieces of s–t.
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things → ’m → –
I’m going to do a commercial tomorrow with Dodge and Ram and we’re promoting a truck that has 777 horsepower that you can buy off a showroom floor.
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you → go → floor
And you can go to Talladega to the truck race and outrun that thing by theory with more power from a street truck that you can buy.
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you → go → that
"It’s like, NASCAR, wake the f–k up.
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It → ’ → k
What are we doing?"
Yeah, I mean — it's tough to argue with Tony Stewart on anything he just said.
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he → do → anything
…and 32 more, not listed.
The Aporia
