Joey Logano makes unpopular admission about NASCAR’s new championship format

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano has commented about NASCAR’s newly announced championship format for 2026 and beyond. Logano, who won all three of his titles under the elimination-style format, is ‘okay’ with the rule changes and is ready to chase the championship with the new format.

NASCAR has returned to its traditional “Chase” format for 2026, featuring a 10-race championship format. After a 26-race regular season, the top 16 drivers in points will qualify for the 10-race postseason based strictly on their points standings; race wins no longer guarantee a playoff berth. Elimination and playoff points are gone. The driver with the most points after the final 10 races will be crowned champion.

Sharing his thoughts on NASCAR’s new championship format during Tuesday’s test at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Joey Logano said:

“Honestly, I’m okay with whatever they tell us, right? Because the rules are the same for everybody, just like they were before. Everyone started with the same set of rules. We all knew what we had to do to try to win a championship.

As there’s no elimination round and the winner solely depends on points in the postseason, Joey Logano believes now he has to make a new strategy and plan to win his fourth championship.

“Now we have a different set of rules, but it all starts at zero again, and we have to change the way we go into the championship, right? The strategy of how you race and prepare and all those things is different. There’s no doubt that it’s very different. So, you have to kind of go back to the drawing board and do something else. So that’s fine.” Logano continued.

“I was one of the rare people personally; I liked the old one”: Joey Logano

Joey Logano was one of only three drivers to win multiple titles under the old format (the elimination style). He won in 2018, 2022, and 2024. The other two drivers to win multiple titles are Kyle Busch (2015, 2019) and Kyle Larson (2021, 2025). Logano was one of the biggest supporters of the old format.

In the aforementioned interview, Logano said:

“Like personally I liked I was one of the rare people personally; I liked the old one just from a from a fan perspective. I enjoyed it but if the majority doesn’t like that then sure, we’ll change it and we’ll race another way and that’s okay with me too. So that’s kind of where I’m at with it.”

Catch Joey Logano, the driver of the #22 Team Penske, back in action when the 2026 NASCAR season kicks off at the Bowman Gray Stadium, the Cook Out Clash exhibition event on Sunday, February 1.