NASCAR Cup Charlotte II

Joey Logano defends NASCAR points format: "The playoffs create drama"

Logano doesn't understand why there are so many detractors of the current championship format

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Oct 6, 2025, 7:37 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet; Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

With Team Penske, Joey Logano won the 2018, 2022, and 2024 Cup Series titles under this format, and just narrowly advanced into the Round of 8 after a wild race at the Charlotte Roval this weekend.

While discussions are ongoing about possible changes to the championship format for 2026, Logano remains strongly supportive of the current elimination-style system.

He was tied with Ross Chastain on the final lap (with Logano winning the tiebreaker), but ended up getting in by four points after Chastain made a desperate dive-bomb on Denny Hamlin in the final corner. The two cars spun with Chastain reversing wildly across the line as Logano stormed on by in a dramatic showdown for the eighth and final transfer spot.

Logano praises playoff format for its drama and storylines

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spin out; Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford; Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

After the race, fellow Cup champion Brad Keselowski spoke out against the current format, calling it a "net loss for the sport." Logano clearly disagrees, as he explained in his own post-race comments on pit road.

"The playoffs create drama," declared Logano in a post-race media scrum. "It creates storylines. It creates awesome moments like that. I don't understand what people don't like about it. I really don't get it.

"And if you're one of those people who say the regular season doesn't matter, playoff points don't matter -- one point would have been the difference there. I preach that all the time. I'm not just saying that because it works for us. I'm saying it because it's true. Everyone likes to look at it in other ways, but like I said, one point was the different there.

“If you don’t have cutoff races and things like that, what are you even talking about today? How Shane waxed everyone’s butt? That’s what you want? I'm just saying, this playoff format is wicked."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Winners and losers from a dizzying elimination race at the Charlotte Roval

Next article Nine shocking playoff moments when NASCAR Cup drivers pulled desperate moves

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Retaining Liam Lawson isn't enough – Red Bull must stop treating him like a failure

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 3 h

Retaining Liam Lawson isn't enough – Red Bull must stop treating him like a failure

Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

6 h

Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

Formula 1

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller

MotoGP

Qatar GP

You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts