Championship weekends are supposed to be celebratory. Fun. Thrilling.

While the losing team’s fans may be upset, they can still appreciate a game well-played between competitors.

2025 Championship Weekend was a whole different vibe for NASCAR, and not in a good way.

With nonstop talk going into the weekend about the legitimacy of the one-race battle for the title, we knew the results were going to be looked at under a microscope.

To be frank, this weekend at Phoenix had a funereal feel to many fans, who saw this as the end of an era where changes that have been implemented have had unintended consequences that have hurt the sport’s integrity — and as the weekend played out, we saw two more heartbreaking examples of why this playoff format needs to end and a major reset is needed for the sport in 2026.

Friday Miracle from Heim, but disappointment for Zilisch on Saturday

To start the weekend, disaster was averted on Friday courtesy of a late 7-wide banzai move by Corey Heim that allowed him to claim a title that rightfully should have already been his. If he hadn’t won the championship due to late cautions, it would’ve been a travesty, as Heim had perhaps the most dominant season ever in the series’ history. So, we got through one day without a calamity.

But then our luck ran out.