The demands to change the NASCAR Cup Series format have rocketed following Joey Logano’s unexpected championship victory this year. Everyone — from seasoned drivers such as Denny Hamlin to the average stock car racing fan — have been presenting alternative playoff formats. Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney also joined the opinionated bandwagon during the NASCAR Awards Banquet in Charlotte.
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The 2023 Cup Series champion said that the ideal format would be one where victories don’t get a driver into the playoffs. He wanted the final 16 to be decided based on the points they’ve accumulated through the regular season and that every win carries 10 or 15 bonus points. Right now each victory earns a driver five bonus points.
“They’d be like 10 or 15, so it would incentivize winning in the regular season. The regular season championship is like 30 points. You got your 16 guys to run five races. Cut the bottom eight.” Blaney told Frontstretch in an interview.
“Then you got eight drivers for five races to the end. So, I don’t know. That’s kind of my ideal one. There’s all these little things. I would like to see a group of races end the year,” added the #12 Ford Mustang driver.
Blaney believes that the format he suggested would place a stronger demand for consistency from the drivers. Many others, including Hamlin, have also put forward the idea that they’d like to see a group of races decide the champion instead of a single finale.
But then, Blaney isn’t pushing as hard as the others to see the changes implemented.
Why Blaney isn’t adamant for changes to the Playoffs format
The formula by which the Cup Series championship was decided in each of the previous two seasons are identical. And the Team Penske drivers made the best out of it.
Blaney had an average regular season last year. The #12 team, however, clicked in the playoffs with great finishes and wins, to seal the title. Logano did the same this year.
Advocates of the current system would say that both Logano and Blaney have mastered the art of racing in the NASCAR Playoffs better than their rivals. Critics would say that the format is faulty. Either way, Blaney admitted he is not on the frontlines pushing for things to change.
“We don’t make the decisions. It’s whatever NASCAR wants to do. We play by those rules, right? If the playoffs change to a different format we’ll race a different way,” added Blaney.
Logano had expressed something similar immediately after the finale while responding to criticism.
It remains to be seen what the governing body ultimately decides going forward. Judging by the sentiment put forward by NASCAR in the 23XI-FRM charter lawsuit, changes are hard to come by in the sport. At least it seems like that from the outside.
