No NASCAR driver loves to see the end of August more than Joey Logano.
The calendar change means it’s time for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Or, for Logano, the best time of the year. His favorite time of the year, even if it doesn’t sound like it.
“It’s the most grueling, maybe most unenjoyable time of the year,” Logano told ESPN. “But it’s also the time that has the biggest reward, and the time you get to show up and show what you and your team are made out of and make big moments. I would assume it’s good for the whole sport because it’s when you get the big moments and drama. So as a fan, you’ve got to love it, but as a competitor, you have to learn to love it because really cool things can happen. Really bad things can happen, too, but the fact that you have the opportunity to do something big is cool.”
Logano, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang, is a three-time Cup Series champion, which has helped him embrace the postseason and all that comes with it. He won his first title in 2018 and his second in 2022. The third title came last year, which moved Logano alongside the company of Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Lee Petty, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart.
Now he sets his sights on a fourth title. And that would put him into more elite company alongside Jeff Gordon.
“That’d really piss some people off, wouldn’t it?” Logano laughed. “Four would be incredible. Three was definitely special, and it does put you in a pretty elite group. I guess sometimes in self-reflecting a little bit, when you look at the end of your career and you say you have three championships, are you going to be happy? That’s something to be pretty proud of. I’m not going to be upset about it.
“I’m still also going to be the person to say, ‘Boy, I missed out on like four or five that I should have won,’ and still frustrated about that. Yeah, I don’t look too far ahead to what [four] would be, but gosh, it would be great. There’s always room for more.”
The only drivers who have won more titles in the Cup Series are those by the names of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. All three won seven in their careers.
Logano’s title defense begins with a similar feeling to 2024 and, he pointed out, the 2018 season. There have been years when Logano felt he had an incredible regular season and didn’t win the championship. He’s also had years when the regular season wasn’t anything to write home about, but ended with the big prize.
The latter is where Logano is now. He was not the most dominant driver during the regular season, scoring just one win, but he had other opportunities slip through his fingers. The first 26 races were good enough for Logano to be 12th in the championship standings, and that is where he ended up seeded for the postseason.
But the reason Logano loves this time of the year is that no matter where he might be on the leaderboard, he and his team, whom he praises for their experience and battle-tested perseverance, have proven time and time again that they show up when others are ready to count them out.
“I think we’re very close to where we need to be,” Logano said. “I think our speed has gotten better. I think we’re in a comparable place to where we were last year. So, if you didn’t know the 22 team and you didn’t know our history, you’d probably argue differently. But knowing these guys the way I know them, and being able to do it multiple times, I feel like we’re in a good spot.
“Team Penske in general does a good job at rising to the occasion, which is so important. But I think if you look at one particular team, the 22 can do that as well as, if not better than, any other team when it comes to people counting you out, saying your stats aren’t good enough to win a championship and then you show up. At this point, I think we kind of like it.”
There is a lot of talk around the postseason and whether the defending champion was a worthy winner. After Logano came from 15th in the regular season to win the title, it sparked a firestorm of conversation about the best driver not winning the championship. There were insults directed at Logano for not being a real champion due to the format, and then insults directed at the integrity of the format.
In the elimination era, 2014 to present, Logano is tied with Denny Hamlin for the most appearances in the Round of 8 (nine) and leads all drivers with the most appearances in the Championship 4 (six). With three championships, Logano has the most of any active driver in the Cup Series. And to go even further, Logano leads all active drivers with the most wins in the playoffs at 15.
“I love it,” said Logano, who has been one of the most outspoken in support of the format. “I know people say, ‘Oh, it’s because it works for you.’ I know. Sure. But I do think it’s very exciting.”
NASCAR created a playoff committee after the 2024 season because of the uproar from fans and drivers over the format. There are ongoing discussions about potential future changes, such as point structure, eliminations and moving away from a one-race finale, with some hoping for alterations to be implemented as early as 2026. The broadcast partners will also have a voice in matters, considering the multibillion-dollar media-rights deal they have with NASCAR.
Logano is one of the drivers on the committee. There are also former drivers, media partners, team owners, manufacturers and track representatives, as well as independent media.
“I think there are ways we can simplify it a little bit because I do think it is a little confusing having two point systems where there is the regular season points and then the playoff points and playoff grid,” Logano said. “There are ways that have come up in those meetings that we can simplify that stuff, which I think is cool. I believe that is good, and we can still accomplish the same thing. I’d like to see that happen. But I think to completely punt on what we’re doing and try something different, I don’t think that’s right either, because a few people complained.
“People complain about everything. Literally everything. The silent majority is a real thing, regardless of the topic.”
Logano, however, is never going to be swayed from the excitement the format brings with its win-or-go-home moments. And he’s ready to be the one to do that again over the next two months.
“There are a couple of people who say we should have the full points all year round and that’s the only real way you can do it,” Logano said. “Well, then it should be like that in every sport, too. But it’s not. Why? Because it’s freaking boring. Nobody is going to watch a boring sport; you have to do something exciting, and the playoff system does that.
“You will not have a Super Bowl moment without a one race, all or nothing. That’s what we have right now.”
