• Loading stock data...
Friday, July 11, 2025

Joey Logano Defends NASCAR Playoffs As League Reviews Format

Joey Logano won his third NASCAR Cup Championship on Sunday. He told FOS why he thinks the current playoff format is good for the sport.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Joey Logano solidified himself as one of NASCAR’s all-time great drivers after his third NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday. His win may have also been the tipping point for the league’s playoff format.

According to Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is expected to review its playoff format next year. However, it’s likely any changes to the format will only take place starting in 2026, since the 2025 season begins in February.

The NASCAR playoffs consist of the 16 drivers who score the most points in a 26-race regular season. The playoffs are divided into four rounds over 10 races, with the first three rounds each consisting of three races and the championship round being a single race. Four cars are eliminated after each of the first three rounds.

The report comes just days after Logano, a Team Penske driver, triumphed with the lowest average finishing position for a champion in NASCAR history. He was also originally knocked out in the second round of the playoffs but rejoined the field due to a disqualification to another driver.

Logano, who also won championships in 2018 and 2022, spoke to Front Office Sports and defended the playoff format. He said the previous system often risked a lackluster end to the year as certain drivers would already clinch the title before the final races.

“It used to be 36 weekends and it was just whoever scored the most points. So with three or four races to go, they’re crowning the champion and the last three races a year don’t matter,” Logano said on The FOS Interview. “No one’s gonna watch that. … It’s over, or the guys [are] so far checked out that no one’s even thinking about it.” 

Logano acknowledged he benefited from the format this year, but he also reminded critics the structure before the playoffs wasn’t perfect, either.

“I think you got to take a step back sometimes because it’s easy for us to look back at things to say, ‘The good old days. Oh, in the good old days, it was like this. The good old days, it was like that. Was it, though?’” Logano said.

The first iteration of the playoff structure started in 2004, following a 2003 season that saw Matt Kenseth clinch the title despite winning just one race. That initial version was a 10-week-long “Chase for the Cup,” which also received backlash after Jimmie Johnson won five years in a row.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Amazon NASCAR Ratings Down 17%, but Skew Younger

Prime Video averaged 2.16 million per race during its five-event stretch.

MLB’s Bold Bristol Plan: Inside the Renovation and Potential Records

Work accelerates to convert the massive motorsports venue for baseball.
Jun 8, 2025; Brooklyn, Michigan, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) celebrates with his team, holding up three fingers, one for each of his victories at Michigan International Speedway, after winning the FireKeepers Casino 400.

Judge Urges Michael Jordan, Co-Plaintiffs to Settle With NASCAR

Jordan’s racing team filed a co-suit in October alleging antitrust practices.

Featured Today

Rimouski, QC - JUNE 1: Final Game of the 2025 Memorial Cup between the Medicine Hats Tigers and the London Knights on June 1, 2025, at the Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, Qc.

CHL Is Facing a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of Questions Amid NCAA Talent Departure

As players defect to college, the Canadian Hockey League won’t cede ground.
Jun 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) bats during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field.
July 9, 2025

The Torpedo Bat Business Is Still Going Strong: ‘Here to Stay’

Demand for the oddly shaped bats has stayed strong across the sport.
July 6, 2025

American Celebs Want to Be Sports Owners. Soccer Is Where They Start

As U.S. team prices climb, investors set their sights abroad.
July 5, 2025

Baseball’s Celebrity Row: Behind MLB’s First-Pitch Ritual

Often planned, sometimes spontaneous, the ritual throw is baseball’s celebrity row.
Apr 6, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; The LIV Golf logo is on display along the 10th hole during the second round of LIV Golf Miami golf tournament at Trump National Doral.

LIV Golf’s New Leadership Reapplies for World Ranking Points

The league’s first attempt was denied in 2023.
Stephen Curry celebrates after sinking the winning putt during the final round of the American Century Celebrity Championship golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nev., Sunday, July 16, 2023.
July 10, 2025

Golf’s Hottest Celebrity Tournament Keeps Getting More Exclusive

The American Century Championship tees off at Lake Tahoe on Friday.
July 11, 2025

All-Star Game Returns to Atlanta With Big Plans After 2021 Exit

The league’s jewel event is set to be a global showcase for The Battery.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
Bruce Meyer and Tony Clark of the MLBPA
July 10, 2025

MLB, Players’ Union Spar Over Salary Cap As Labor Fight Looms

The MLB Players Association’s No. 2 executive outlines what he sees owners doing.
May 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrates during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in game five of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center.
July 10, 2025

How Does the NBA Salary Cap Work?

The NBA salary cap gives teams a spending limit for their rosters.
Feb 5, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell during the NFLPA press conference at the Super Bowl LIX media center at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
July 10, 2025

NFLPA Head Has Side Hustle With PE Firm That Can Invest in..

The NFLPA’s executive director is embroiled in multiple controversies.
July 10, 2025

Murphy: Club WC Snags Won’t Derail Biggest Event ‘in Human History’

New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium is the concluding site of both FIFA events.