Joey Logano may have just created the biggest debate in NASCAR at the moment. It’s not about his title, but about the format NASCAR follows. The playoffs system remained mired in controversy this season. It wasn’t because Logano came back from being eliminated. Rather, what fans are upset about is drivers who dominate all season long are forced to sit out of the Top 4 because of the current playoffs format. NASCAR legend Richard Petty agrees with the community on this one, going as far as to bring a potential solution.
Following a fan question about the playoffs, Richard Petty suggested a tweak to the playoffs system, bringing the focus to getting wins, rather than just points.
Petty Suggests the Winner-Take-It-All Approach
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While Joey Logano’s victory brought a wave of happiness for a lot of drivers, it also sparked a consensus of doubts and criticisms about the current playoff structures. Logano is a driver with one of the least number of victories and the stats for his top five or top 10 runnings aren’t very promising. However, given the complex point system structure that NASCAR follows, it can become tedious to maintain parity.
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. Larson even set expectations high
While this could seem to be a good option, sometimes it is possible for non-winning drivers as well to accumulate points and topple winners to the Top 4 run. Cutting to the criticism and the controversy regarding the current NASCAR playoff structure, Richard Petty made his stance very clear. He has always been an advocate of clear and transparent rules that favor drivers who win.
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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, Petty said, “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. 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”.
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 is the crux of any motorsport. Although the model that Petty suggested might foster a lot of aggression, it would help one to witness the real nature of motorsport racing. After all, why choose to depend on risk-free driving for the sake of just points when winning is at stake?
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When Richard Petty placed his bets on Joey Logano
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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.
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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.