NASCAR decision keeps 10-year streak alive (after it apparently ended)

As a seasoned gamer who’s seen countless races unfold over the years, I must say, the story of Joey Logano is as intriguing as any virtual quest I’ve embarked on. The man seems to have an unwritten rulebook for NASCAR’s playoffs – if it’s even-numbered, he’s there, battling for the championship! Even in a year that’s been a rollercoaster ride by his standards, here we are, on the brink of yet another potential title run.

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick emerged victorious in the fight for the last position leading to the round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, defeating Joey Logano from Team Penske on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

However, even though Reddick secured the position, Logano still moved on to the next round due to Alex Bowman’s disqualification from the race. The reason being that his No. 48 Chevrolet did not meet the required minimum weight, leading to a disqualification. Consequently, this disqualification cost him enough points, causing him to fall below both Reddick and Logano in the round of 12 standings.

As a result, Logano has a chance to keep an incredible streak alive.

Since 2014, the current playoff format for elimination rounds has been implemented, and driver Logano has qualified for the Championship 4 on five separate instances. Remarkably, all these qualifications have occurred exclusively in even-numbered years. In fact, he’s managed to make it every time an even number is on the calendar. Notably, he claimed victories in both 2018 and 2022, taking home the championship titles in those years.

By his standards, Logano has had a down year in 2024, even with two wins.

If it weren’t for his victory in a five-overtime race at Nashville Superspeedway in late June, he wouldn’t have qualified for the playoffs. This is because three winless drivers ahead of him in points didn’t make it to the 16-driver postseason field, thanks to the high number of different regular season winners.

Regardless of his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier in the playoffs, Logano currently finds himself in 15th position in terms of total points accumulated this season. The other drivers in the Round of 8 are all ranked among the top seven, making it an almost perfect top eight sweep for the semifinal round if not for Bowman’s disqualification.

2021 has seen Logano’s top-five finishes, top-ten finishes, laps led, and average finish perform the worst they have since 2012 and 2011 respectively.

To get a comparable total, you need to look back to his time with Joe Gibbs Racing, as he joined Team Penske in 2013.

Indeed, right now, we find ourselves in mid-October of an even-year season, and Logano appears to have approximately a 50% probability of making it his sixth time in succession to qualify for the Championship 4, which has been the case every other year since the current playoff system was adopted.

Over the past season, he has experienced his poorest performance with Roger Penske’s team according to key benchmarks. In three weeks, he will have an opportunity to qualify for a title fight at Phoenix Raceway on November 10.

Of course, it is worth mentioning that Hendrick Motorsports could still appeal Bowman’s penalty.

Start your free trial with FuboTV right away and catch all the excitement as Las Vegas Motor Speedway kicks off the round of 8 on October 20, Homestead-Miami Speedway takes over on October 27, and the finale at Martinsville Speedway unfolds on November 3!

2024-10-14 13:32

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