Joey Logano has long stood behind NASCAR’s winner-take-all playoff system. But with the sport considering multiple races for the Championship 4 round and rotating venues for the finale each season, the system that fueled Team Penske’s three-year streak of dominance may soon be a thing of the past.
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Logano loves the current system’s intensity and unpredictability. But as the sport prepares to overhaul the championship format, this could be the final season crowned under its current rules. Still, Logano isn’t losing sleep over his legacy. In fact, he’s drawing perspective from one of the sport’s greatest, Richard Petty.
Ahead of the Phoenix finale, Logano reflected on a recent conversation with The King. “I was talking to Richard Petty yesterday, and he said he won five championships in five different formats. He’s won seven championships, but five of them were in different formats… so there’s a certain point where no one is even gonna know.”
“It’s gonna go to whatever the next one is, and if you’re a new fan, you’re not even gonna know what this format was,” Logano continued. “It’s just gonna be a stat… We might know, and everyone is gonna have their opinion on it, and that’s fine. I will always remember it personally because it’s affected my life in so many ways, good and bad, being on the good side and the bad side.”
Joey Logano has been a big proponent of the current playoff/winner-take-all system, but this is probably the last time NASCAR will ever decide its champion this way. @jeff_gluck asked him what he thinks the legacy of this system will be.
“I’m sure someday we’ll be in our rocking… pic.twitter.com/NOwdZnQPWs
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) November 1, 2025
For Logano, the format has been both a proving ground and a pressure cooker. Despite his success under the system, he admitted it brings a unique strain unlike anything he’s experienced before. He confessed to having never felt pressure like he did during the playoffs. That tension, however, is exactly what he admires about it.
Even so, the Penske driver is curious about what’s next. The playoff structure may be in flux, but Logano’s mindset isn’t. The current system has made him a three-time champion, and he doesn’t know what the next system is. He is not aware of what the new format could bring. All he knows is whatever it is, he’ll have to figure out how to win in that one, too.
For now, though his title hopes ended before Phoenix, the #22 Team Penske driver isn’t backing off the throttle. He plans to race hard on Sunday, mindful of the four drivers vying for the championship but unwilling to coast through the finale.
