Beyond the Flag

NASCAR fans have longed for the days when points actually mattered, and after 12 years of the "win and in" knockout playoff format, they finally got their wish ahead of the 2026 season, with NASCAR moving back to an iteration of the "Chase" system that was utilized from 2004 to 2013.

Ever since before the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series playoff format even debuted, fans had called for the end of "win and in". After 12 years, they finally got their wish, as NASCAR opted to revert to an iteration of the "Chase" playoff format that had been utilized from 2004 to 2013. All things considered, it was a welcome change, after years and years of criticism of the knockout format seemingly fell on deaf ears. But no format was going to be perfect, and Shane van Gisbergen might have just exposed it.

The starting lineup is set for Sunday night's Chicago 400, the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway since 2019. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chicagoland Speedway, NASCAR | Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images For the first time in seven years, the NASCAR Cup Series is back at Chicagoland Speedway. Chicagoland was on the schedule in 2020 initially, but after it was replaced due to various COVID-19-related restrictions, it didn't not return in 2021.

When Chicagoland Speedway was dropped from the 2020 calendar due to schedule changes related to COVID-19 restrictions and then left off the calendar for 2021, many NASCAR fans assumed that the track would be gone forever from the Cup Series schedule. That belief was seemingly solidified when NASCAR added a street race in Chicago, Illinois in 2023. However, as they so often do, things changed after a few years.

Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Chicagoland Speedway, if it isn't canceled due to rain, is set to be a standard oval qualifying session, as Chicagoland is considered an intermediate track. There is just one round of qualifying, rather than both an opening round and a pole position shootout like NASCAR runs at superspeedways, and each driver is set to one single timed lap, rather than two like NASCAR runs on short tracks.

You have to go back to mid-April to find the most recent NTT IndyCar Series race which featured a polesitter not named Alex Palou. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has taken five consecutive pole positions at five very different venues, and he heads into Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the host of this weekend's Honda Indy 200, as the two-time reigning polesitter at the track.

Race number nine of 22 on the 2026 Formula 1 schedule, which originally featured a record-matching 24 races before two early-season cancelations, is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit. While overtaking has increased this year in the first season under the sport's new regulations, all eight Grands Prix contested so far have been won by a driver who started on the front row.

When it was revealed that Scott Dixon was free to negotiate with NTT IndyCar Series teams other than Chip Ganassi Racing for next season, not much was initially thought of it. Chip Ganassi Racing had historically had a period during which Dixon was only allowed to negotiate with them, and year after year, he stuck around on one-year contract extensions. So they didn't get a deal done within that window this year. Big deal, right?

On Sunday, May 3, Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott drove to victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway for the second time in three years. In second place was Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, just as he was in late March when Elliott earned his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway. By the time this Sunday's eero 400 rolls around at Chicagoland Speedway, that Texas race will have been nine weeks (63 days) ago. That's a long time.

Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series qualifying order is set for Sunday's Chicago 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the first Cup race at the track in seven years. Chicagoland Speedway, NASCAR | Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session is a single-car session in which each driver on the entry list is set to get one timed qualifying lap to determine the full starting lineup.