The NASCAR Cup Series championship finale at Phoenix Raceway delivered high-octane drama as Joey Logano outlasted his title rivals in a grueling 312-lap battle to secure his third series crown. In doing so, the 34-year-old Team Penske driver etched his name alongside the sport’s all-time greats, cementing his status as a bona fide NASCAR legend.
But even as the confetti rained down on Logano and his jubilant crew in victory lane, a fierce debate raged on: Is he a legitimate champion under NASCAR’s elimination-style playoff format? Critics argue that the current system devalues regular season excellence in favor of a contrived, made-for-TV spectacle. Advocates counter that the playoffs inject much-needed excitement and ensure the title fight goes down to the wire.
The Path to Glory
Logano’s road to the 2024 championship was a master class in resilience and opportunism. He notched just one regular season win, a chaotic overtime affair at Nashville Superspeedway. But once the playoffs began, the No. 22 team hit their stride, using a combination of strategic savvy and raw speed to navigate the gauntlet of elimination rounds.
Key moments included a clutch victory at Daytona-esque Atlanta Motor Speedway to open the postseason, a fuel mileage triumph at Las Vegas to lock into the Championship 4, and a gritty runner-up effort at Martinsville to keep title hopes alive. Through it all, Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe consistently rose to the occasion when the stakes were highest.
Outdueling the Competition
In the Phoenix finale, Logano faced off against three formidable foes for the Bill France Cup: Defending series champ Ryan Blaney, perennial contender William Byron, and regular season stars Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson. In a race filled with tension and aggressive maneuvering, Logano ultimately seized command just past the halfway mark and never relinquished his lead.
While Byron and Reddick faltered, Blaney made a ferocious late charge, but Logano deftly managed his lead and held firm to cross the line first. The win marked Logano’s 36th at NASCAR’s premier level and his second in the championship race (2018). His three titles tie him with legendary names like Lee Petty, David Pearson, and Tony Stewart.
Playoff Success Breeds Debate
For all his undeniable accomplishments, Logano’s latest title is sure to reignite the longstanding debate over NASCAR’s playoff format. Ardent traditionalists pine for the days when the champion was the driver who accumulated the most points over the full season, rewarding week-to-week consistency.
“It drove me crazy,” Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace recently recalled of the years his contemporary Dale Earnhardt Sr. won titles despite fewer race victories. “I felt like we were kicking his ass every weekend and had a lot more wins…But he always knew exactly how the system worked.”
The elimination era ushered in by NASCAR in 2014 and refined since has sought to manufacture “Game 7 moments” and ensure the championship battle builds to a dramatic crescendo. But this ratchets up the role of chance, as ill-timed misfortune or a single subpar race in a cutoff event can derail even the mightiest contenders.
Adapting to the Times
Logano makes no apologies for prospering within the playoff crucible. “For someone to say this isn’t real, that’s a bunch of bulls—,” he said pointedly post-race. “This is something that everyone knows the rules when the season starts. We figured out how to do it the best and figured out how to win.”
Indeed, Logano and his team have proven masters of the current playoff meta, demonstrating an uncanny knack for elevating their performance when it matters most. So while Larson was undeniably 2024’s pace-setter – amassing a series-high 6 wins – his No. 5 crew simply failed to execute in the pivotal moments.
- Playoffs reward peaking at the right time vs. season-long excellence
- Every format change sparks controversy and reshape tactics
- All-time greats find a way to win under any system
The annals of NASCAR history reveal that the only constant is change. From the early days of Richard Petty’s reign through the Earnhardt-Gordon duels of the 1990s to Jimmie Johnson’s “Chase” dominance, the championship structure has undergone frequent revisions. Each tweak alters incentives and redefines the optimal path to glory.
While the current playoff incarnation undoubtedly has its flaws and detractors, it has given us compelling title fights year after year. And in the heat of those high-pressure moments, Logano has repeatedly shown he has the skill, savvy, and fortitude of a true champion. That makes him as legitimate as they come in the eyes of this writer.
