The demands to change the NASCAR Cup Series format have rocketed to record levels following Joey Logano’s unexpected championship victory this year. Everybody from a seasoned driver such as Denny Hamlin to the average stock car racing fan has been giving their opinions about what a different playoff format should look like.
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Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney joined the bandwagon in Charlotte, North Carolina during the NASCAR Awards Banquet. The 2023 Cup Series champion said in an interview with Frontstretch that the ideal format from his perspective would be one where victories don’t get a driver into the playoffs.
He wants the final 16 to be decided based on the points they’ve accumulated at the end of the regular season. Also, he wants every win to carry 10 or 15 bonus points as opposed to the five they get now.
He said, “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.”
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.
He believes that there should be a stronger demand for consistency from the drivers and the format he suggests would help with that. Notably, others including Hamlin have also previously put forward that they’d like to see a group of races decide the champion instead of a single finale.
But then, Blaney isn’t itching as hard as them to see the changes implemented.
Why Blaney isn’t adamant for changes to the Playoffs format
The formulas by which the Cup Series championship was won in each of the previous two seasons are nearly identical. Blaney had an average regular season. The #12 team clicked in the playoffs with great finishes and/or wins and won the title. Logano did the same this year.
Advocates of Team Penske and the current system would say that the teammates 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 that he isn’t on the frontlines looking for things to change.
He said, “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.” Logano said similar words in the immediate aftermath of the finale in response 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 or at least it seems from the outside looking in.
