"The playoffs had a lot of storylines": Joey Logano defends NASCAR's current format, compares it to the NFL
Joey Logano recently discussed his opinions of NASCAR's current playoff format and the underlying criticism he faced after winning a third Cup Series championship. The 34-year-old pointed out a different sport's perspective and highlighted how the current system brings out different storylines, like his own.
The #22 Ford driver Logano and Team Penske faced backlash for achieving the 2024 Cup Series title despite not being the top driver in the year-end statistics. Moreover, the NASCAR community urged for tweaks in the points system for the upcoming season.
In a recent episode of Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, the three-time Cup Series champion Logano pointed out the NFL's qualification system. He said:
"But think about it from other sports perspectives. If you're in the NFL, you can win every single, go undefeated, into the playoffs. It's gonna help you get seeded, but you can still lose the first game in your out." [0:13]
Logano also mentioned the points advantage a regular season champion has going into the first round but is not in favor of locking the driver straight for the final championship round.
"They have a mulligan, especially in the first two rounds. They can have a bad race and then just be equal to me. Right. So they earned an amazing advantage and it is there," he added. [1:05]
Furthermore, the Middletown, Connecticut native addressed the different storylines each playoff round offers, irrespective of any NASCAR's national series. He said:
"I think the playoffs had a lot of storylines. I think there's a lot of drama... The storyline of the cutoff line and those races within the race. Jeez, you don't have that in the regular season... You don't have those moments. You don't have to do or die. I got to make it happen today. You telling me that's not awesome? Like, I love it. Like as a race fan, like take me out of it as a driver." [1:26]
Team Penske's third consecutive championship came at the cost of Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman who was disqualified after making it to the Round of 8. Logano, who initially failed to qualify after the final Round of 12 race at Charlotte Roval, benefitted from Bowman's disqualification and got bumped into the next round.
Ford driver Logano then won the first Round of 8 race at Las Vegas, eventually booking his berth in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.
"We go through it every year": Ryan Blaney identifies with Joey Logano's criticism after securing a third championship
The #12 Ford driver for Team Penske, Ryan Blaney, finished the season in the runner-up spot in the final Drivers' standings and behind his teammate, Joey Logano.
In a post-race interaction at Phoenix, the 2023 Cup Series champion Blaney believes Team Penske faced criticism even in the last two years of clinching the trophy. He said:
We go through it every year… ’22, ’23, and this year we sit around and, beginning of the year and in the summer a little bit and come into the playoff time, all of our employees have to sit around and listen to people saying that we suck and we don’t deserve to be here and why are they in the playoffs and all that ****."
Blaney responded to the doubters by adding:
"And we’ve won the last three championships. So this team does a great job of rising to doubters."
However, as things stand, NASCAR is reportedly planning to tweak the playoff format for the 2025 season and bring a major overhaul by the end of the 2026 season.