NASCAR has officially crowned the three champions for the 2024 season. Joey Logano (Cup), Justin Allgaier (Xfinity), and Ty Majeski (Truck) earned a NASCAR title at Phoenix Raceway after beating the rest of the Championship 4 competitors. All three drivers deserved to win the championship at Phoenix; however, should there be changes coming for NASCAR?
The answer should be an easy “yes.” The time has come for NASCAR to fix/tweak the current playoff format. This isn’t a call to “trash” the playoff format, as an elimination-style system is good for NASCAR. But, there needs to be changes that address the best way of winning a championship in the Modern Era of NASCAR.
For example, Logano has the fewest top-5 finishes, fewest top-10 finishes, and lowest average finishing position of any Cup Series champion in the Modern Era. The Team Penske driver deserved to win the championship at Phoenix under this current format, but the standards and expectations for winning a title are starting to diminish.
Meanwhile, Christian Eckes became the first NASCAR driver in the 21st century to have only one finish outside of the top 10 spots but finished third in the point standings. Eckes was 101 points and 200 points ahead of Corey Heim and Ty Majeski heading into the 2024 Truck Series season finale, respectively.
JOEY LOGANO DOES IT! ❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/k06vXoW8DZ
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 10, 2024
The idea of a playoff is great for NASCAR, but the current system is simply not sustainable. Logano has proven the model of becoming a NASCAR champion. A driver truly only needs to do the following: Make the playoffs, win in the Round of 8, and win the Championship 4 event. Essentially, the rest of the regular season doesn’t matter as long as you show up for three of the 36 races.
Even RFK Racing driver Brad Keselowski believes the current playoff format isn’t the best way to determine a Cup Series champion. So, what should be done? Does a greater emphasis on points (increasing points and playoff points for winning, increasing regular season payout, eliminating win-and-in rule) or a three-race Championship 4 round fix the issues?
Both ideas keep the elimination-style playoff format while making it a legitimate way of determining a champion. Not all of the “Big 4” sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) have a Game 7 moment at the end of every season, and NASCAR doesn’t need one every year. Those Game 7 moments become less special when it’s a normal occurrence at the end of a sports season. The NFL is different since each round is one game.
This isn’t a call for NASCAR to remove the playoffs because it has a place in this sport. It’s a call to fix the playoff format and allow a more natural way of determining a champion to come into the picture. Logano, Allgaier, and Majeski are all deserving champions under this current format, but there should be an effort into finding the best way of deciding these winners in 2025 and beyond.
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