Just as Matt Kenseth’s one-win championship campaign in 2003 led to the creation of the NASCAR postseason in 2004, will Joey Logano’s championship this season trigger playoff changes next year or so?

The hot topic ahead of this year’s Championship 4 was whether the challengers to win the Cup title in Phoenix were the most deserving. While Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship, William Byron finished the regular season in fifth place, Ryan Blaney in sixth place and Logano in 15th place. The four championship contenders won eight of the 26 regular season races and nine stages in total.

Among those who did not qualify for the title race were Kyle Larson, who finished second in the regular season, Chase Elliott, who finished third, and Christopher Bell, who finished fourth. In total, they won eight of 26 regular season races and 21 stages.

Two days before Logano won his third Cup championship, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell opened the door to change with the playoffs.

“We’ll definitely be looking at what form the play-offs take in the off-season,” O’Donnell told reporters. “Like I said before, you always learn, but as (NASCAR Chairman Steve Phelps) said, the playoffs themselves, you can’t argue with the quality of racing that the playoffs offer.

“You can talk about the format if we do different things, but we will definitely stick to the play-offs.”

Series executives Steve Phelps and Steve O’Donnell covered a wide range of topics at the annual Phoenix Raceway news conference.

O’Donnell’s words sparked a wave of ideas, suggestions and pleas throughout the sport and among fans.

While many ideas have been put forward, Austin Cindric has one request.

“If any changes are made, we can’t make it any harder to educate people about how the playoffs will work,” he said.

With so much talk about playoff changes for next season, here are five things to consider:

1. Revised play-off points format

Here, the playoff drivers have their own points system separate from the rest of the field.

“I think one of our drivers at our meeting (Saturday in Phoenix) brought up a really good point that when it comes to playoff drivers, playoff drivers are competing with playoff drivers,” Kyle Busch said. “So points per position are only between them, not between positions. I think that’s the easiest and fairest way to do it.”

So playoff drivers only earn points if they beat another playoff driver. Under the current system, a playoff driver, whether a playoff driver or a non-playoff driver, receives one point for each position they gain.

A look at some of the teams’ highlights and highlights from last season.

Professional: We reward drivers who have a strong regular season because it may be harder for drivers at the bottom of the playoff standings to beat those in front of them and advance towards the playoffs.

Minus: Busch acknowledges the potential flaw in this system, saying: “If you’re a player who gets 35 playoff points in the last round of qualifying, so one point per possession when you’re only fighting eight guys, it’s going to be really hard for any of them to actually change hands.” This could affect the drama of who advances and who gets eliminated in a race that NASCAR is calling.

2. Three-race final

The idea is that three races decide the champion, rather than a single race where something beyond the championship candidate’s control could cost him the championship. Maybe in this system it still comes down to a winner-takes-all race in the third race.

“Race has so many variables that you need to create a larger sample size to get to the right answer,” Denny Hamlin said. “So I believe we don’t live in a one-on-one sport, we don’t get a seven-game series or something like that; we live in a world in our sport where only competition makes a difference, where mistakes can cost us dearly.

“Often in other sports, competition will result in a mistake that you will capitalize on and score a goal or it will benefit you. “Our sport isn’t like that, so you have to get a larger sample size to get the right answer, and I think we’ve narrowed it down now to try to have those exciting moments every week, and I just think it has a long-term negative impact.”

The final 14 Cup races, including all 10 playoff races, will air on NBC or USA Network in 2025.

Professional: In a three-race set, if at least one championship candidate is caught in an incident triggered by a driver who failed to qualify for the playoffs, the championship candidate may still have a chance to win the title. In a one-race championship event, as is the case now, one major issue could possibly cost that driver a shot at the title. This could also help build the final race based on what happened in the previous two events.

Minus: Will fans embrace this and watch all three races against NFL games? Yes, fans now have to make that choice. Or will fans wait for the final race to watch? Also, how did NASCAR come up with the idea of ​​moving away from the “Game 7 moment” that the one-race finale offers?

3. Cole Pearn play-offs

The former crew chief who guided Martin Truex Jr. to the 2017 Cup title has been watching the sport from afar and floated an idea on social media this week.

Pearn’s plan is to carry year-to-date points into the playoffs, rather than increasing each playoff driver’s points to 2,000 points before the round of 16, 3,000 points before the 12th, 4,000 points and 5,000 points before the 8th round. before the title race.

Pearn would retain the concept of a play-off driver advancing to the next round with a win. Remaining points will be based on year-to-date point totals.

Professional: As Pearn noted on social media, with this system “the best cars have a very good chance of winning the final race and winner take it all.”

Minus: If this situation continues, there is a possibility that the differences between the drivers will become too large to overcome in a three-race tour. If so, what does this do to the drama of who moves on?

4. Kevin Harvick’s idea

Here’s Kevin Harvick’s plan to ensure the top teams have a better chance of competing for the title: Detailed on the “Happy Hour” podcast – would allow the regular season champion to advance to the Championship 4 race. So there is no way the regular season champion will be eliminated before the championship race.

The regular season runner-up advances to Round 8, leaving the driver one lap out of the title race.

The driver who finishes third in the regular season will advance to the Round of 12, meaning they will have a bye in the first round.

Professional: As Harvick put it on his podcast: “That gives you at least something in the regular season to not only compete for first place, but also to compete for first, second, third. … Since there are only three spots left in the Championship 4 (which is left) ) makes winning in the play-offs more important.”

Minus: Will fans accept a regular-season champion with nothing to race for in nine races (a quarter of the 36-race season) provided the play-off format remains at 10 races and there is only a one-race championship event?

5. My opinion

Since there is disappointment that the current format could keep some of the regular season’s best teams out of the Championship 4, let’s try this:

The top four teams in points at the end of the regular season (before the reset) automatically advance to the third round, i.e. Round 8. In fact, they get a bye in the first two rounds.

At the end of the regular season (before the reset), those in positions five through 10 in points will automatically advance to the second round. They lose in the first round.

Now let’s get to the fun.

In a nod to the in-season tournament starting next year, those placed 11 to 18 will face each other in the first round to advance.

So the driver who is 11th in points will race against the driver who is 18th. The driver who is 12th in points will race against the driver who is 17th. The driver in 13th place in terms of points will compete with the driver in 16th place. The 14th placed driver will compete against the 15th placed driver.

Yes, this extends the play-offs by two points, but it makes it harder for the lower seeds to advance because of who they will be facing. The driver with the most points in each match advances to the next round. If one of them wins the race in the opening round, they automatically advance and eliminate the other.

Professional: This leaves the top four of the regular season advancing to the final eight, with only one round remaining in the title race. This system also allows for some head-to-head competition in the opening round.

Minus: This violates Cindric’s rule of keeping things simple. But it can be easier to understand once you take action.