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NASCAR fans are currently up in arms after two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano‘s victory in Las Vegas on Sunday locked him into next month’s championship race at Phoenix.
The victory was the third of the year for Logano, but an otherwise unspectacular season for the Team Penske driver has fans screaming for changes to the series’ playoff format.
Up until 2004, NASCAR used season-long point standings to determine its champions. In 2004, they instituted the first “Chase for the Championship” playoff format. Then in 2014, the format changed again.
NASCAR Fans Fume Over Playoff System Following Joey Logano Win At Las Vegas
Under the current system, 16 drivers qualify for the postseason. Four drivers are eliminated after each three-race round until only four are left in Phoenix, with the highest finisher in the final race winning the championship.
Should a playoff driver win a race during the round, they automatically advance to the next stage. Under this format, Logano has two championships and has now advanced to the championship race six times, including every even-number year since its inception.
But fans are calling BS.
They believe that the current format is not indicative of a true champion, and they want their voices heard.
I truly don't know how to express how much I hate the #NASCARPlayoffs. I'm tired of the championship being a joke. We're the highest echelon of motorsports, and our championships don't matter. They mean nothing. Drivers don't care; fans don't care. It's going to kill the sport.
— Antón Chamberlin (@AChamberlin97) October 20, 2024
There's no merit-based defense of the NASCAR playoffs. If you like it for the drama/randomness, fine. But you can't pretend it's legitimate, nor can you draw from stick and ball examples to prove your point; if you don't understand the differences by this point you never will
— Alexander (@AlextheAdm1ral) October 21, 2024
The NASCAR season be so good then BOOM the playoffs start 🤦🏽♂️
— Justin Champagne (@ChampagneRacin) October 21, 2024
On the one hand, they have a point. The current playoff format is not perfectly indicative of the entire 36-race season. That much is inarguable.
But this format has been in place for a decade now. Everybody knows and competes under the same rules, and Logano has continuously found his way to the top of the heap.
It’s clear that he’s able to raise his level and be at his best during the most important races. That is a skill. It’s one that Penske teammate and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney appears to have as well, and those drivers who write it off as “random” probably won’t have much postseason success.
Logano got a second chance at life last week when playoff competitor Alex Bowman got disqualified in Charlotte, putting Logano back into the playoffs.
He made the most of that opportunity, as he’s done several times before, and it may have just broken NASCAR fans for good this time.