NASCAR insider issues grim warning about future of playoff format

Another NASCAR Playoff in the books and there has been a firestorm of criticism against Joey Logano and this championship format. Is this the year that makes officials change the postseason?

Joey Logano was not the best in the regular season. But he won three of the final ten races of the season, and second most races all year. He had four wins, five if you count the All-Star Race.

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic was not so excited after the race Sunday. In fact, he essentially spelled D-O-O-M for NASCAR if the playoff format isn’t fixed on The Teardown.

“I think if you don’t make a change I think it’s going to come back to bite everybody,” Gluck said. “I think the majority, okay, maybe you’re right maybe I’m just too caught up in the social media world. But the people I hear from, the people I talk to, they don’t like the champion being decided like this. So that’s all I can go on.

“I don’t have people saying, ‘This is great, what are you talking about, you’re an idiot, stop, shut up, stop being so negative.’ I don’t get a ton of that. I get, ‘Man, this is not what we’re looking for.’ So, maybe you hear differently, but I just don’t know where NASCAR goes from here. Because I think it weakens the credibility of what a champion should be, and we should be celebrating after moments like this, by saying ‘This was the best of the year, they went out and proved it, period.'”

So, do you think Jeff Gluck has a point?

Does NASCAR have to change playoff system?

The NASCAR Playoffs have been in the Championship 4 era for 11 years now. In that time, Joey Logano has won all three of his championships. At some point, I think we have to put complaints aside and realize just how good he has been under this format.

Does NASCAR have issues with the playoff system? Yeah, I believe they do. Bringing back a minimum points rule for playoff eligibility would be great. Perhaps a two or three-race final round instead of a one-and-done.

However, those aren’t the rules. That is not what we have been given. Teams do not race the same way as they used to under the old rules. Off the top of your head, how many Cup Series drivers could win three of ten races like Logano did? There aren’t many, even at the highest level of the sport.

The NASCAR Playoffs are here to stay. That’s true whether we like it or not. Right now, Logano and Team Penske, along with Ryan Blaney, are proving they are the best at it. Until someone else comes along and changes that, we should all get used to these Penske Playoffs.