Joey Logano has referred to as criticism of his run to a 3rd NASCAR Cup championship as “bull****” after defeating Penske Ford team-mate Ryan Blaney in last weekend’s Phoenix title decider.
Logano’s common end in 2024 was 17.1, surpassing the earlier file because the worst ever for a Cup champion set by Blaney final yr with a median end of 14.1.
The champion in 2018 and 2022, Logano confronted elimination from the 2024 playoffs after the Charlotte Roval spherical that concluded the Spherical of 12, but was reinstated following the disqualification for Alex Bowman’s Hendrick Chevrolet being underweight.
Having secured passage to the playoffs with a single victory during the regular season at Nashville, Logano received when it mattered whereas the title favourites failed to take action.
He adopted victory in the opening playoff Round of 16 race at Atlanta with one other within the first Round of 8 contest at Las Vegas, earlier than holding off the fast-closing Blaney within the Phoenix finale on Sunday.
Logano raced throughout the guidelines of this format offered to him and in his thoughts, that is no totally different than another main sporting championship in America.
“The one cause why they do not say this about different sports activities is as a result of they did not change the playoff system,” stated Logano, referencing the 2014 choice to chop the variety of championship contenders after each three races.
Joey Logano, Group Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang
Photograph by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Photographs
“However the playoff system in different sports activities shouldn’t be a lot totally different than what that is.
“You possibly can have a fantastic common season, it seeds you higher for the playoffs. That does not imply you are assured to go all the best way to the Tremendous Bowl or the Stanley Cup Finals or the NBA Finals.
“It would not matter; it would assist you [but it might not]. It is the identical method in NASCAR; the best way we’ve got the foundations now, is that you just set your self up a lot better.”
Logano additionally famous how there have been drivers comparable to fellow Championship 4 contender Tyler Reddick (23XI Toyota) and Hendrick’s Kyle Larson, eradicated within the Spherical of 8, who entered the playoffs with much more bonus factors than him.
“They’ve the identical alternative to go on the market and win and transfer on to the following spherical,” stated Logano.
“So for somebody to say this is not actual, it is a bunch of bull**** for my part. That is improper.
“That is one thing that everybody is aware of the foundations when the season begins. We discovered the way to do it the most effective and discovered the way to win. It is what our workforce has been in a position to do for the final three years.”
NASCAR stays an outlier in motorsport for utilizing a playoff format to find out its champion, though Australian Supercars will be introducing a similar knockout-style system in 2025.
Joey Logano, Group Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang
Photograph by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Photographs
The Cup Sequence first adopted a playoff system, then referred to as the Chase for the Cup, in 2004.
Logano added that critics ought to “settle for what the occasions are” and launched a defence of the playoffs.
“I do not know when you’ve got loads of the moments that we’ve got in the present day with out the playoff system,” he stated.
“Do you need to see the championship crown with three races to go? As a result of that is what used to occur. That is fairly boring.
“You’ve got obtained do-or-die moments. You’ve got obtained the stress. You’ve got obtained all this stuff occurring the final 10 weeks. You might have guys making an attempt to get into the playoffs.
“You might have that storyline. What number of storylines might we make? It is superb. For individuals to complain, it makes me mad. It makes me pissed off to listen to that.”
Logano additionally pointed how scouring over hypothetical factors is pointless, as a result of the races would have performed out fully otherwise in such a format.