Latest news with #JoeyLogano
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
Inside NASCAR's playoff committee: A desire for change, but likely not in 2026
Following a controversial 2024 Cup Series playoffs, in which Joey Logano won the Cup Series title with the worst average finish for a champion in NASCAR's Modern Era, the league formed a committee to assist in coming up with a format that would crown the most 'deserving' champion and deliver enough entertainment to increase television ratings while running head-to-head with the NFL on fall Sundays. Advertisement The group — meant to serve as a feedback forum for various proposals, not to determine the final format — consists of current drivers, former drivers, team owners, track officials, manufacturer representatives, NASCAR representatives and media members (both broadcast and print). Like practically everyone who knows anything about NASCAR, they all had ideas in mind, but the proposals for reaching the finish line are as different as the cars' paint schemes on the racetrack each week. After this writer has penned much commentary over the years about the need for change in a flawed system, NASCAR invited The Athletic to participate in the panel. We agreed to join with the understanding that the general discussion and process could eventually be reported on, as long as the identities of specific committee members and their specific comments remained off the record. (This writer's contributions to the discussion are noted throughout the piece.) After two meetings — one before the Daytona 500 in February and another before the Coca-Cola 600 in May — and two email surveys, it seemed like a near certainty the playoff format would be revamped for next season. But earlier this month, the discussions stalled out. It's now far less likely that anything drastic will change in time for 2026. Here's what you need to know about how NASCAR got to this point, what has happened with the committee, and where the process stands now. Under NASCAR's current, 12-year-old playoff format, 16 drivers make the playoffs and try to stay alive through a trio of three-race rounds, with four eliminated after each. In the end, the final four drivers left standing compete in a one-race championship battle. Though they take to the track with all the non-playoff and eliminated drivers, whoever finishes highest among those four title-eligible drivers is named series champion. Advertisement While this format certainly has its cheerleaders, many (me included) feel it does not regularly reward the 'best' driver of the season, as determined by various metrics or the eye test. And that, in the eyes of critics, has eroded the credibility of what it means to win a championship that until 2003 was decided by whoever had the most points from all races in the entire season. At that initial playoff committee meeting in Daytona Beach, an informal poll in the room showed a split between those who thought a change was desirable (again, including this writer) and those who felt the status quo was fine. But over 90 minutes of discussions, a consistent theme emerged: The current format, created to draw more eyeballs in a crowded sports landscape, is not working as intended. That's not measured purely in viewership numbers, because those can be misleading. The committee was told, though, that it doesn't appear that using the elimination playoff format versus previous formats has made any material impact. The average viewership for the final 10 races of seasons in this era was within a half percentage point of the same races in the previous 'Chase' era — also a 10-race playoff format, but without elimination rounds. NASCAR has other factors likely contributing to this, such as a lack of star power, rapidly changing viewership habits in the digital age, and continued competition from other sports. But if this format doesn't impact viewership and is also viewed to be less legitimate, why not make it more credible? That logic seemed to shift the outlook for some on the committee who may not have felt any changes were necessary at the start of the process, an encouraging sign for those, like myself, who hoped the room would be open-minded. The current and former drivers on the committee did not reach a consensus solution or opinion on a fix. Some committee members, including at least one driver, appear perfectly fine with retaining the current format. Advertisement But the majority of drivers expressed concern over the elimination format's legitimacy, saying it was hard to sell the fans on being excited about a one-race championship when they themselves did not buy into the concept. It's less clear how to fix it. NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin has publicly revealed he was on the committee in an attempt to stump for a return to a season-long playoff format. To prove his point, Martin conducted a poll on X and asked fans to pick their favorite between four options: Traditional season-long points, the current format, the 10-race Chase or another form of playoffs. In response, Martin's followers voted 60 percent in favor of full-season points, 23 percent for the 10-race Chase, less than 10 percent for another form of playoffs and only 7.5 percent for the current format. What point system do you think @NASCAR should use. I'm curious. — Mark Martin (@markmartin) May 23, 2025 The Athletic then did a similar poll and got numbers in the same ballpark. Each poll received more than 20,000 votes. But while Martin feels both polls represent a convincing majority, it's not as clear when adding up the totals who voted for some form of playoffs (ranging between 40-47 percent in the two polls) versus a full-season championship (53-60 percent). And of course, X does not represent a true cross-section of all NASCAR fans. In reality, when factoring in the world outside of social media, the existing fan base may be split down the middle. Plus, the point of implementing a playoff in the first place was to attract new, less-hardcore fans, who are less likely to vote in such a poll and might be more enticed to tune in by the drama of a playoff system. There's a certain romanticism to the 36-race playoff format because it is connected to NASCAR's glory days, and the current Cup Series vehicle — a spec car known as the 'Next Gen' car — has promoted parity, which keeps the standings close. After the first 22 races of this season, the top four drivers are separated by only 20 points. Advertisement But while that sounds good in theory, there's trepidation among some committee members about it all going wrong. If someone runs away with the title or even a two-driver battle is not viewed as compelling enough, the impact on TV ratings and racetrack ticket sales is feared to be significant. Some stakeholders even expressed concern that a multi-race championship round with four drivers might not have an exciting enough finale, though The Athletic noted in the meeting that the champion from the 10-race Chase format was never decided prior to the finale. The committee meetings have trended toward a compromise: A modified playoff system with a longer championship round of some kind. This writer, seeing that as the most realistic path to generating a move away from the one-race championship format, is also in that camp. A three-race championship round among the final four drivers, promoted by committee member Denny Hamlin on his podcast, has been one of the more-mentioned possibilities. But others in the room have felt that it doesn't go far enough in restoring lost credibility from the one-race championship. In addition, this writer asked panel members to consider if fans would tire of hearing about the same four drivers for three straight weeks. That has even prompted suggestions of a five-race championship round (with more than four drivers) or a return to the 10-race Chase. From this view, the preferred format would be either one of those. If not a full 10-race playoff, then perhaps a compromise would be having a five-race opening round, one elimination to cut the field in half and then a five-race mini-Chase to determine the champion. Overall, committee members seemed to largely agree that the goal is to make the championship feel earned, meaningful and worthy of celebration. At the same time, they also recognized the need to keep the excitement of the playoffs while rewarding the consistency of the best drivers. Even after the second committee meeting in May, there has yet to be any talk of fully-formed playoff systems. Rather, there have been loosely floating elements and concepts that people in the room seem to like — but it's unclear how they could be integrated. Some of the discussion has included: • A desire to reward winning further. The committee members would like to see more points given to a race winner, which could help the best drivers of the season bolster their hopes of reaching the championship round and boost legitimacy for the winner. Advertisement • Reducing the playoff field. If there were only 12 drivers in the field instead of 16, one regular-season victory would not be enough to clinch a playoff berth. That would lessen the chances of a scenario such as Daytona last summer, in which 34th-place Harrison Burton won his way into the playoffs with a superspeedway victory. • Carrying points through the playoff rounds. Right now, drivers who advance through the elimination format have their points reset at the start of each round (they only have the 'playoff points' they earned from the regular season). Some on the committee would like to see drivers who are having an excellent playoffs be rewarded by retaining the points they have earned so far when the next round begins. • Keep it simple. The committee's consensus is the current playoff system is far too complex and a barrier to new fans trying to learn about NASCAR. Any changes made to the format need to make the playoffs easier to understand. • Figuring out a way to make every race matter again. Once a driver has already locked into the playoffs, teams and manufacturers revealed they shift their best equipment (cars and engines) to other drivers who have not won a race yet. That means an early-season victory can actually result in a driver being penalized until all of his teammates win, since the goal for organizations is to qualify as many drivers into the playoff field as possible. In turn, that erodes weekly competition by making some of the midseason races feel like filler events and hurts NASCAR's ability to sell fans on the importance of every race. Given all of that conversation, it felt like the current one-race format was on life support by the end of the May meeting. On July 8, though, the committee was informed that discussions would be tabled for at least six weeks. Although NASCAR still planned to seek feedback on some potential formats, executives first wanted to have a private meeting with NBC Sports — one of four Cup Series television partners, and the one that happens to broadcast the playoffs. And because NASCAR said it could not meet with NBC until August, any changes for 2026 would now be in jeopardy because the Cup Series schedule had to be finalized — or very close to it — sooner rather than later. Advertisement The schedule piece matters because if NASCAR ultimately opts for a three-race or five-race championship round, it would want to curate the tracks that decide the champion. This season, Talladega Superspeedway is the third-to-last race — which means if the schedule remains the same, then Talladega (a chaos grenade of a race) would be in the championship round of a three-race playoff. That is not what NASCAR is looking for if the new format is meant to introduce more legitimacy to the championship. Though it's unclear what NBC wants, going away from playoffs and eliminations is likely not on the list. Eliminations give something for TV to promote, and flashing the live points in the final laps of an elimination race is a powerful draw to retain viewers. Certainly, an argument can be made that NBC has too much power in this conversation, and that the broadcast partner shouldn't be dictating how a sport's championship is decided. Then again, NASCAR's four Cup Series TV partners are paying a combined $1.1 billion per year over the next seven years, and executives don't feel comfortable changing the very thing NBC signed up to televise without giving the network a chance to weigh in. So despite a process that has stretched more than six months and was filled with optimism through the early summer, the committee now finds itself in a similar position as everyone else who cares about NASCAR as much as its members do: Playing a game of wait-and-see to learn what TV executives believe are realistic changes that can be made, and even then, perhaps not until 2027. (Top illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Jeff Robinson / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Larry McReynolds vs. Mark Martin? Nah, but let's talk NASCAR playoffs anyway
If Matt Kenseth killed the old championship system, did Joey Logano kill the current method? Are both true? Is neither true? Or is the answer somewhere between those two extremes? Answers: Doubtful. Probably not. Yeah, sounds about right. Such things are being hashed out publicly this week, and among those weighing in is one of the very best NASCAR racers who just so happened to never win a championship: Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who, by the way, was seemingly and inadvertently dragged into this argument by America's Crew Chief. We'll explain, but first, some history. Mild Matty K in 2003: One win, one championship The 'old way' of crowning a champion ended after Matt Kenseth won the 2003 championship. Mild Matt was a picture of consistency that year, but he wasn't consistently at the front of the field. In fact, he won just one race. Didn't matter, because the championship was determined by season-long points gathering, with the only bonuses being a one-time five-pointer for leading a lap, and another five if you led the most laps in the race — 10 extra points available in each race, where the winner received 175, which was actually 180 because by winning he obviously led at least one lap. Each race runner-up back then got 170 points, and if you're looking for you're looking for a big glitch in the old system, it's this: Take those 170 points, add five for leading a lap and five more leading the most laps, and yep, the second-place driver would earn just as many points as the winner. You could win the Daytona 500 and go to Week 2 without the points lead. Weird but true. Still with us? That long-ago formula was how Dale Earnhardt won seven championships. It's how Richard Petty won seven before that, though the method of collecting season-long points changed midway through King Richard's reign. NASCAR first went playoff racin' in 2004 NASCAR had been tinkering with ideas for a postseason when presented with the perfect time to strike: Right after Matt Kenseth's one-win 2003 championship season (that one victory came at Vegas, by the way). Kurt Busch was the first champ crowned after a postseason, which began as a 10-race mini-season, where the playoff driver who gathered the most points during that span was considered the champ. In the years following, the playoffs were tweaked, tweaked and tweaked again, and eventually they landed on the system in place for the past 11 years — 16 drivers whittled to 12 after three playoff races, to eight after three more, to a final four after three more, with the 10th and final playoff race being a winner-take-all among those four. Generally speaking, the eventual champ had put together a good all-around season, followed by a steady-to-great playoffs. Then came Joey Logano in 2024. Joey Logano's lucky (and timely) 2024 championship run Logano was 15th in points after the regular season, but was in no danger of missing the 16-driver playoffs because he'd earned automatic entry with a Week 19 win at Nashville. Though a two-time champ, he slid into the playoffs without much fanfare, but then he won the first playoff race, at Atlanta, to secure a Round of 12 berth. Logano barely missed transferring from the Round of 12 to the Round of 8, however … … He advanced from ninth place to the Round of 8 when Alex Bowman's car was DQ'd following post-race inspections at Charlotte. Joey not only survived, but wouldn't you know it, he opened the Round of 8 with a win at Las Vegas, and after finishes of 28th and 10th the next two weeks, he clutched up and won the final at Phoenix for championship number three. He got hot at the right time, lucky at the right time, then hot again at the right time. It doesn't often work out in that fashion, but it can, and some aren't crazy about it, which leads us to Mark Martin. Larry Mac vs. Mark Martin? Not really Martin keeps pretty active on social media, and he's not shy about preaching the virtues of the old season-long championship battle, even though the Cup title was often clinched prior to the final weekend. Hell, sometimes two weeks prior. Like Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open, Martin famously finished second in the Cup standings five times. He raced for championships under the old system and under the original playoff method, but never under today's system. Martin joined the current discussion because some fans thought he was being called out — unfavorably, they felt — by longtime crew chief-turned-broadcaster Larry McReynolds, who co-hosts a NASCAR show on SiriusXM satellite radio. Danielle Trotta, his co-host, suggested a racer on the current playoff subcommittee (they're examining potential ways to tweak the modern system) badly wants to go back to the pre-2004 ways. 'I bet it's a driver that's not won a championship,' Larry Mac said to Trotta. Uh-oh. Chances are, he was speaking of Denny Hamlin, but some knee-jerk reactors thought he was taking a shot at Mark Martin, which would've been an extremely weird thing to do in this case, but knee-jerk reactions, by definition, don't come with a lot of thought. So the knee-jerkers did what they often do, they went on X to rat out Larry Mac — and rat him out directly to Mark Martin, who didn't really take the bait but did reiterate his love of the old ways. What does the 2023 NASCAR champ have to say about all this? Next up: Ryan Blaney, the 2023 champ who seems to fall somewhere in the middle of this argument. Also speaking on SiriusXM this week, Blaney said he favors the original playoff format, back when just 10 drivers made the postseason and, once there, reset the standings and raced for points over the entire 10-race playoff. That's back when it was called the 'Chase for the Championship' by most but officially known as the Chase for the Nextel Cup. 'Do I have my ideal championship format? Yeah,' Blaney said. 'I was a huge fan of the initial Chase. Last 10 weeks of the year, you kind of have somewhat of a reset in points and then you go 10 races and whoever had the best 10 races was going to win the championship.' Solid idea, but two problems. First, don't bet on NASCAR shrinking the playoff field from 16, and certainly not all the way back to 10. More playoff cars, more playoff exposure for the sponsors who largely fund horsepower. And they won't likely return to a 10-race points chase that could see the leader go into the final weekend needing nothing more, say, than a 25th-place finish to clinch the Cup. Right now, it's all theory, but when the smoke clears, here's a certainty: Whether things stay the same, return to yesteryear or fall somewhere in between, some people won't like it. — Email Ken Willis at This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR feud? Larry Mac vs. Mark Martin vs. Matt Kenseth vs. Joey Logano
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
What to watch for in today's NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS — The challenges will be immense for NASCAR Cup drivers and teams in today's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A narrow track and high speeds make it tough to pass. That impacts what happens on the track and how the strategy goes. Here's a look at what to watch for today. Cautions breed cautions Last year's race saw half of the 10 cautions come after restarts, including crashes that eliminated, among others, William Byron, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin. Logano was eliminated by a crash on a restart that started behind him. 'It came forward,' Logano said of the accident that ended his race a year ago. 'You don't see that every day, do you? 'I think everyone knows it's hard to pass. If (a restart is) your opportunity to pass, everybody's willing to ship it in there and figure it out later. Unfortunately, it causes accidents. 'If there's ability to pass later on, then everybody probably would have a little more respect for each other, more grace out there, a little more give and take.' The last three Cup races on the Indy oval have seen at least one crash on a restart. 'I think without fuel saving, restarts are kind of one of your only opportunities to pass here,' Bowman said. 'They got super crazy there at the end (last year).' Tight pit road A majority of the fast cars selected pit stalls near pit exit because the width of pit road at Indianapolis (not including the pit boxes) is 24 feet. Only World Wide Technology Raceway has a narrower pit road width at 22 feet. Ryan Blaney knows the challenges of pitting near pit entrance. In the 2020 race at Indianapolis, Zach Price, who remains the rear tire changer for Blaney, was struck on pit road when there was a chain-reaction crash just after pit entrance that blocked pit road. 'I'm like ultra vigilant here,' Blaney said of pit road. 'Let's say I'm done with my stop and I'm cruising down pit road (in the far right lane), I'm always watching those cars on the left who are in their stall. I've got to look at are they about to drop the left-side jack, and what that looks like because you can't bail anywhere. The only way you can bail is to slow down and stop. It makes it pretty tough. Hopefully … you don't see any issues on pit road and guys stay safe.' Indianapolis starting lineup: Chase Briscoe claims NASCAR Cup pole at home track Chase Briscoe has won five poles this season, including at the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and now the Brickyard 400. Dustin Long, Teams pick pit stalls based on how they qualify. The pole winner gets first choice, the No. 2 starter the second choice and on down to the final car. Most teams select closer to pit exit to avoid potential incidents near pit entrance or the middle of pit road. Bubba Wallace will start second and that gives him a good pit stall. He will be in pit stall 5, which has an opening in front of it, allowing Wallace to exit his stall without worry of being blocked in. 'This is probably the sketchiest pit road, for sure,' Wallace said. 'Obviously, we've seen a lot of crashes (on pit road) here, a lot of injuries. So, we can keep ourselves out of harm's way, the better. I'm excited. That's what we want, a good qualifying effort.' Guess the right strategy Crew chiefs will be busy devising the strategy they think gets their car to the finish line first. Brad Keselowski tried to stretch his fuel in last year's race but a late caution sent the race into overtime. As the field headed toward the restart zone, Keselowski, who led, pulled off to pit road because he was out of fuel. How to watch Sunday's Brickyard 400 Cup race at Indianapolis: Start time, TV info and weather There are only three former winners in the field of the crown jewel event. Nate Ryan, 'I think we were really aggressive last year and we almost won the race,' Keselowski said. 'I wouldn't expect anything to change there, and we've got no reason not to be very aggressive. I certainly don't want to just do dumb things just to do them, but this is a race that lends itself to aggressive moves on the track and off the track with pit strategy.' Playoff picture Twelve drivers have won this season, leaving four playoff spots open at this time via points. Those in a playoff spot without a victory this season are Tyler Reddick (156 points above the cutline), Alex Bowman (+63), Chris Buescher (+44) and Bubba Wallace (+16). Ryan Preece is the first driver outside a playoff spot. He lost 13 points to Wallace last weekend at Dover and is 16 points back. Kyle Busch is 39 points below the cutline. Ty Gibbs is 52 points below the cutline. $1 million at stake NASCAR's inaugural In-Season Challenge comes to an end at Indianapolis. Ty Dillon, the last seed in the 32-driver event, faces Ty Gibbs. Whoever finishes better will claim the $1 million prize. 'If we execute our race and do the best to our abilities - no mistakes and out execute everybody in the field - we might not have the most speed to win the race, but we're going to do plenty to put pressure on him,' Dillon said of Gibbs.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Chase Elliott wins the pole at Dover after rain washes out NASCAR qualifying
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race. Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track's first one in 1969. Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover. Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week's winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10. Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts. Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover. The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. All four drivers are winless this season. ___ AP auto racing:
Associated Press
19-07-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Chase Elliott wins the pole at Dover after rain washes out NASCAR qualifying
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race. Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track's first one in 1969. Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover. Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week's winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10. Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts. Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover. The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. All four drivers are winless this season. ___ AP auto racing:
