Would a Joey Logano title be the biggest indictment of the NASCAR Playoffs?

Joey Logano advanced to the Championship 4 after winning Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Logano was only in the Round of 8 after Alex Bowman was penalized for an underweight car after the round’s final race at the Charlotte Roval.

In a season-long points format, Logano would be in 15th place in the standings, nowhere near a position for title contention. Undeserving drivers winning has been a constant point of scrutiny in the NASCAR Playoffs, and critics of the format are outraged that Logano’s mediocre season could become his third series title.

That begs the question, though. In the decade since the Playoffs were implemented, would Joey Logano hoisting the Bill France Cup in three weeks be its largest black eye?

Let’s look back at some other controversial NASCAR postseason moments to see where this year would stack up against.

2014: Ryan Newman’s winless runner-up

In the first year of the Playoffs’ existence, Ryan Newman almost destroyed what the system was trying to do entirely.

The NASCAR Playoffs were a radical shift from the original Chase for the Cup. A win in the regular season automatically locked a driver into the Playoffs and a knockout bracket was implemented instead of a 10-race run to the end.

Ryan Newman, in his second year at Richard Childress Racing, had a quietly consistent season. He netted five top 5 finishes and only finished below 25th twice.

However, with an aggressive move on Kyle Larson on the final lap of the penultimate race at Phoenix, Newman collected enough points to advance to the Championship 4. A restart with three laps to go put Newman in second place behind championship rival Kevin Harvick.

Harvick held on to win the race and the title, but Newman was one pass away from playing spoiler. In a season-long points format, Newman would have finished 6th in the standings, but he almost blew up a postseason format specifically designed to incentivize winning in its first year.

2015: Kyle Busch wins after missing 11 races

Kyle Busch broke his leg in the Xfinity Series race a day before the season-opening Daytona 500. Many believed the injury would sideline him for the majority of the 2015 season.

Busch returned after an 11-race absence at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, finishing 11th. In June and July, he would go on a tear by winning four of the five races between Sonoma and Indianapolis, locking himself into the postseason by being top 35 in points.

The Las Vegas native notched seven top 10s in the 10-race playoff, and won his first Cup Series title. He would have finished 20th in a season-long points format, and his return called into question NASCAR’s loose eligibility rules for the championship.

2019: Matt Crafton’s winless title

Ryan Newman walked so Matt Crafton could fly.

Crafton is a 25-year veteran of the NASCAR Trucks Series and has secured 15 wins and three titles in his illustrious career. However, his 2019 title gave NASCAR its first-ever winless champion.

The Tulare, Calif. Driver had a strong season by grabbing seven top five finishes, but it is an indictment to the format designed to reward winning more to have a champion never cross the line in first.

The other drivers in the Championship 4 that season, Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen, combined for nine wins in 2019. Crafton finished second in the final race to Austin Hill, a non-playoff driver, which locked up the championship.

2021: Daniel Hemric’s first victory clinches a title

Daniel Hemric endured an odyssey to get his first win in a NASCAR national touring series.

In 2021 alone, Hemric finished in the top three places 10 times. In each race, he seemingly found another way to lose.

While the win seemed forever out of reach, Hemric remained consistent. He pointed his way into the Championship 4 and would have finished fourth under a season-long format.

However, on an overtime restart in the final race of the season, Hemric sent it into Turn 4 and moved title rival Austin Cindric up the track to take victory. His first win only clinched him the championship.

Many criticized the drama for only happening because of the Playoff format, but it was still a triumphant moment for a driver who came close so many times.

2024: Joey Logano’s title chase

With the listed above events, is Joey Logano’s Championship 4 appearance the worst of the Playoff era? I would honestly say yes.

In regards to the winless seasons, Crafton and Newman both had consistent results through their campaigns. Additionally, Hemric came painstakingly close on numerous occasions to finding the victory lane before Phoenix.

Even Kyle Busch, who missed 11 races due to injury, had a stellar 2015 season when he returned. He most likely would have been in the title fight regardless.

The same argument cannot be made for Joey Logano. He only made the Playoffs in a five-overtime race at Nashville where he was 14th when the first caution came out.

In the postseason, he advanced at a chaotic drafting track in Atlanta, a penalty from another car and a fuel-mileage race at Las Vegas. Add on the fact that he would only have eight top 10s all year outside of his wins, and Joey Logano’s title would be the biggest stain and exploitation of the NASCAR Playoffs.

Jack Rachinsky is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jjr6682@psu.edu.