AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joey Logano has heard the criticism surrounding his wins and the NASCAR playoff format. He heard them after his first Cup Series championship, and he certainly heard them after his third. He just doesn't care.
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"For someone to say this isn't real, it's a bunch of bullshit in my opinion," Logano said Sunday night at Phoenix Raceway.
"That's wrong. This is something that everyone knows the rules when the season starts. We figured out how to do it the best and figured out how to win. It's what our team has been able to do for the last three years."
NASCAR has crowned its champion in multiple ways. The Winston Cup system rewarded drivers for a season's worth of effort. Sometimes, the driver with the most wins won the title. Other times, a driver with fewer wins but more top-10 finishes won.
Christopher Bell overtakes Chase Elliott in the last race of the season to win his first #NASCAR Winston Cup Championship by 5 points! pic.twitter.com/mvYpSLVXoS
— NASCAR Winston Cup Series Standings (@NWCS_Standings) November 11, 2024
The Chase featured a 10-race playoff, but there were no eliminations. The best driver during this stretch won the title. This is a system that Jimmie Johnson used to win six of his seven titles, including five in a row.
2014, the season following Johnson's sixth title, was the first with the elimination format. To advance through the rounds, each driver and team had to deliver big performances under immense pressure.
This system, which has seemingly split the NASCAR fanbase since its introduction, is one that Logano compares to more traditional sports.
"The only reason why they don't say this about other sports is because they didn't change the playoff system. But the playoff system in other sports is not much different than what this is.
"You can have a great regular season. It seeds you better for the playoffs. That doesn't mean you're guaranteed to go all the way to the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup Finals or the NBA Finals. It doesn't matter."
Interestingly enough, 2014 marked Logano's best career finish. He reached the Championship 4 and finished fourth. He has since gone on to lead the series with six appearances in the final round and three title wins.
He and the No. 22 team haven't necessarily been the best during the elimination era. They have just embraced the format and done what they needed to advance. They don't care about anything other than winning the title.
Make it 3X NASCAR Champion@Team_Penske @shellracingus @Pennzoil @FordPerformance @CocaColaRacing #CokePartner pic.twitter.com/oW4to6l3a7
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) November 11, 2024
"Times change, right? And I don't know if you have a lot of the moments that we have today without the playoff system that we have," Logano added. "Do you want to see the championship crown with three races to go? Because that's what used to happen. That's pretty boring.
"You've got do-or-die moments. You've got the pressure. You've got all these things going on the last 10 weeks. You have guys trying to get into the playoffs. You have that storyline. How many storylines could we make? It's amazing. For people to complain, it makes me mad."
The 2024 season is complete, but the conversations about the NASCAR playoff format will only continue throughout the offseason. The fans have shown that they care about this topic.
Fans will debate whether Logano is a worthy champion and whether he deserves to have his name mentioned alongside Darrell Waltrip, Lee Petty, Tony Stewart, or David Pearson. They will debate whether a driver such as Kyle Larson should have been in the Championship 4 over Logano due to leading the series in nearly every statistical category.
Will these debates draw Logano's attention? Probably not. If they do, will they change how he feels about his accomplishments?
Absolutely not.
"I've got a pretty sweet trophy right now. I'll be laughing all the way to the bank."
