Joey Logano has been the target of heavy criticism for the past few weeks. The main reason behind this is his status as a Championship 4 driver despite underperforming the entire year. Many believe that his progress to this final stage resulted from sheer luck, mainly due to his Round of 8 qualification, which was a reward for Alex Bowman’s disqualification in Charlotte.
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His position has led several icons and fans across the sport to question the effectiveness of the playoff format and demand changes from NASCAR. Days before the finale, set to go down on November 10, he has finally decided to knock some sense into his critics. The two-time Cup Series champion spoke on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio recently and defended himself strongly.
He said, “They [Alex Bowman’s No. 48 team] went too far and NASCAR put the foot down. And we were next in line. Does that make us lucky? No, we were next in line for a reason! We had to race against a car that wasn’t legal. We had the spot the whole time in my opinion.” Bowman’s car was disqualified because it had been underweight during the post-race inspection.
️ @joeylogano responds to those saying he’s “lucky” to be in the #Championship4 after the 48’s DQ at the ROVAL put him in ⬇️
“We were next in line for a reason and we had to race against a car that wasn’t legal. We had the spot the whole time.”
→ https://t.co/WGRTG5gVtL pic.twitter.com/hIYBXphrSc
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) November 7, 2024
Logano continued to express that no driver who makes it to the finale can “not” deserve that spot. He explained that everyone has got a fair shot right from the season opener in Daytona and it is just about moving through every round thereon.
“We came in as maybe not the Number 1 seed or even the Number 10 seed but we figured out how to get through the rounds and now we are here,” he concluded.
Does Logano not deserve his Championship 4 spot?
The No. 22 driver has won three races this season, the same as his teammate Ryan Blaney. While his overall finish rate might be lower than that of his counterparts, the system does not award points for consistency in the playoffs. Timely wins are what let a driver move through the stages and that’s what Logano secured.
His first win of the postseason came in the very first playoff race, in Atlanta. It helped him move to the Round of 12. Once there, he finished 14th in Kansas and failed to finish (accident) in Talladega.
While this left him in an icky spot he secured an eighth-place finish in Charlotte. As controversial as it may be, there is no denying that Bowman’s team did break the rules.
Thanks to the same, Logano was able to use his points tally and move forward to the Round of 8. He then won the first race of the round, in Las Vegas, and secured his seat for the finale. Proper retrospection will lead anyone to see why it wasn’t luck but the format and rule book itself that has helmed Logano’s journey in 2024.
