As Joey Logano lifted his third NASCAR Cup Series Championship, the age-old debate about the fairness of the playoff system resurfaced. This stemmed from the fact that the team Penske driver had a less than impressive overall campaign, with the worst average finish for a NASCAR Champion at 17.11. Many fans on social media erupted over this statistic and highlighted the shortcomings of this format, while Logano passionately defended his win. Now, NASCAR’s winningest driver, Richard Petty has come up with an idea to tweak the championship format.

The playoffs format has garnered controversy in the past, even this season after Harrison Burton qualified for the postseason following a surprise win at Daytona. Logano’s championship win has only reignited the calls for change in the format and Richard Petty who knows a thing or two about winning the Cup Series under different systems had his say.

Petty shared a clip from his next episode of the Petty Family Racing podcast on Instagram, where a fan asked him, “What changes would you make to the points system?” The NASCAR veteran answered, “I guess what I would do, look at the deal and say, okay we’ve had, this guy has won, that guy has won, this guy ain’t won, forget the points. Let the winners run for the championship, I mean if the guy’s won one race or 10 races, they get into the championship.”

Driving his point home, Petty mentioned, “Looks to me in the long run, that would be the best way because you got some guys up there that almost run for the championship that didn’t win any of the races. They didn’t quite make it but there’s a possibility and it has happened in the past”. 

Currently, the drivers accumulate points. These are dependent on a season-based performance. Usually, the winners will earn higher points, but the ones who do not will also have a chance of making it to the top depending on how well they perform throughout. Two drivers already faced damage from the existing system. These were the drivers with the most wins this year, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. Both were favorites going into the playoffs.

During the regular season, Logano recorded only one win. But once the playoffs started he won the very first race at Atlanta Motor Speedway to qualify for the Round of 12. There in the final event he was eliminated, only to be given a reprieve after Alex Bowman was disqualified after a post-race inspection. In the Round of 8, Logano would secure a win in the first event thanks to a perfectly timed caution to qualify for the Championship 4.

According to Petty, it is the number of victories that a driver has that should be the deciding factor in their Top 4 run. Suggesting this structure. One of the primary reasons why this could be a good model is because it would elevate the importance of every race.

For example, the driver who wins at Las Vegas Speedway would still have to make it to Miami and Martinsville so that they could bag the most victories. Rather than focusing on earning just steady points, drivers are prone to exhibit risky driving strategies, which could add to the excitement.

The format for crowing NASCAR’s Champion was changed in 2004 after Matt Kenseth became the champion by 90 points after one early-season victory and 23 more top-10 finishes in 2003. This prompted former NASCAR CEO Brian France to introduce the current elimination-style format to crown the champion. It began with a 10-driver slate with a points-only format, then moved to 12, and was 13 one year. The 16-driver format was established in 2014.

But after three seasons, which were full of chaos and confusion, another change followed in 2017. Stage points were introduced which meant the drivers would be allowed to carry over bonus points from race and stage wins. This was supposed to allow four of the best drivers in the season to duke it out. But teams have grown to be smart to exploit the point-based system. This was also seen in Martinsville, the final race before the Championship 4 in Phoenix.

In the final laps, William Byron was just one position away from losing his spot in the season finale. Behind him were fellow Chevy drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon and neither made the move to pass him, as he was the only driver from the team who had made the postseason. Both drivers drove side-by-side and Byron kept pace ahead of them and was able to qualify for the Championship 4.

But if NASCAR takes Petty’s suggestion on board and that only wins will get you through, it would dramatically change how drivers approach every race. Following Logano’s win, many fans on social media openly called out NASCAR’s current format and questioned Logano’s credibility as a champion. Comments such as “Joey Logano is THE BIGGEST fraud in NASCAR history”.... and “I’m done watching NASCAR, of it’s going to stay like this,” flooded X, while others labeled the format as a “joke.” Meanwhile, Logano remained defiant and called out those questioning the legitimacy of his win.

He pointed out that other drivers had the same opportunity as him and the likes of Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson had far more bonus points than him, entering the playoffs. He said, “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, it’s a bunch of bull**** in my opinion. That’s wrong.” He also defended the current playoff system.

“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. It makes me frustrated to hear that,” he added.

Team Penske has secured a third-straight championship, with Ryan Blaney winning last year and Logano securing the Cp Series a year before that. Will this dominance and growing calls for change lead to another tweak in the format? That remains to be seen. Richard Petty, despite having reservations about the current format had backed Logano to be a contender in the championship race.

When Richard Petty placed his bets on Joey Logano 

It seems as though the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has a very good idea about the current drivers and placed his picks on the right person. It was not long ago that Richard Petty had picked Joey Logano as one of his top picks from the current standing of drivers. Petty was highly impressed with the kind of speed that Logano exhibits and the way he has made it to the standings.

The King said, “Yeah, he’s the top car everywhere he goes. A lot of times he’s maybe not the fastest, but he is always in the Top 8 or Top 10. No matter where they run. Yeah, and this is what they have run the third race this year. He definitely needs to be in the champion run.” It was evident from the way Logano was driving throughout the season that he might not be able to bag a lot of victories. But he was in complete hustler mode which ensured he climbed his way back.

One of the most effective factors that has helped him in this run and maintaining his position throughout is the current NASCAR playoff structure. Although he comes second to Kyle Larson who has won the most number of races throughout the season, Larson was nowhere in the final standings. Yet Logano, who was almost on the verge of elimination, made his way back and positioned himself in the Top 4. 

Logano was able to make sure that he kept up to his reputation and marked a solid victory at Phoenix on Sunday. While he did have a close call with teammate Ryan Blaney, he was still able to manage his run and claim the NASCAR Cup Series trophy for the third time.