Joey Logano Doesn't Like Questioning Legitimacy of 2024 Championship
Joey Logano entered rarified air on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway as the Team Penske driver officially became a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, joining a prestigious list that includes just 10 legendary drivers. And at the age of 34, the Connecticut native still has plenty of runway left to pile up more hardware.
RACE RESULTS: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix
STANDINGS: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Standings After Phoenix
However, Logano making the Championship 4, let alone winning the championship with the overall body of work that he and the No. 22 team had this season has led to a lot of criticism of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff format. Logano finished the 2024 season with just seven top-five finishes. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, who didn't even make the Championship 4, had six victories this year. Additionally, Logano's 17.1 average finish ranks as the worst average finish of any champion in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.
So, while Logano did achieve four wins this year, including one in the season finale with the championship on the line, it certainly feels fair to question the legitimacy of a format that allows such an out-to-lunch season to be rewarded with a championship trophy. In his post-race press conference, Logano was asked about people questioning the legitimacy of the Playoff format, and his 2024 championship as a whole, and the topic got him quite fired up.
"The only reason why they don't say this about other sports is because they didn't change the Playoff system," Logano said. "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. Now, that doesn't mean you're guaranteed to go all the way to the Super Bowl, or the Stanley Cup Playoffs, or the NBA Finals. It doesn't matter. It might help you, and it's the same way in NASCAR, the way we have the rules now is that you set yourself up much better."
While Logano concedes that his regular season was not on par with others that dominated the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, he said that ultimately made his path to the Championship 4, and ultimately the championship even harder than the path of those that failed to achieve the championship this season. Logano, everytime the Playoffs were reseeded before each round, found himself at the bottom of the heap. Each time he advanced.
"You look at how we came into the Playoffs versus [Kyle Larson], [Tyler Reddick], you know those guys that scored 15 Playoff Points for winning the regular season championship. That's three wins worth of points in three races. That's hard to make up that amount of points," Logano explained. "And they have the same opportunity to go out there and win and move on to the next round. So, for someone to say this isn't real, that's a bunch of bullshit. In my opinion, 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. So, I don't like people talking that way. You know what I mean?"
Adding to the frustration of purist NASCAR fans are the circumstances of which Logano advanced to the Playoffs, as well as the path he took through the Playoffs to reach the Championship 4.
Logano secured his berth into the Playoffs with a race win, sure, but the win came in quite wonky fashion. At Nashville Superspeedway, Logano was scored roughly in the 15th position, when the race's scheduled distance was reached. However, a rash of incidents led the race to be extended to five overtime finish attempts.
Due to numerous crashes ahead of him, and drivers running out of fuel, Logano inherited the lead, and would hold off rookie Zane Smith on the final restart of the race to score the win.
Once in the Playoffs, Logano, regarded as a longshot for the championship, advanced to the Round of 12 with a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a superspeedway drafting race. Logano would then be eliminated from Playoff contention in the Round of 12, but would be re-added to the Playoff field following an Alex Bowman disqualification at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the final race of the Round of 12.
Once in the Round of 8, Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe played fuel strategy to sneak out a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That win locked up the Championship 4 berth for Logano and the No. 22 team, where he ultimately went on to win the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to take home his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.
But Logano says don't hate the player, hate the game as he and his team took the rules, and format that are in front of them, and they played it to absolute perfection on their path to an unconventional championship run.
"Because if the rules were the old way, we would play it out differently, wouldn't we? So, I just think that's just a bunch of hearsay back there, and people have to accept what the times are. Times change, right, and I don't know if you have a lot of the moments we have today without the Playoff system that we have."
For those questioning the legitimacy of the Playoff format, Logano asks would they rather see the championship decided a few races early?
"Do you want to see the championship crowned with three races to go? Because that's what used to happen. That's pretty boring. You have do-or-die moments, you have the pressure, you have all of these things going on the last 10 weeks. You have guys trying to get into the Playoffs, you have that storyline. Gosh, I mean how many storylines can we make? It's amazing. For people to complain, it makes me mad. It makes me so frustrated to hear that. Because golly man, it is awesome."
While Logano calls the Playoff format, "awesome," it's easy to feel that way when you're the benefactor of said format. Earlier in the week, in the NASCAR State of the Sport Address, NASCAR's Steve O'Donnell emphatically said the Playoffs, which have been around in its current form since the 2014 season, are here to stay. But after one of the weakest overall seasons for a champion in NASCAR Cup Series history was able to secure the championship in 2024, you have to wonder if NASCAR will feel the pressure to make some adjustments to the way a champion is crowned in the United States' premier racing series.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.