January 25, 2017: Joey Logano during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour at the Nascar Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. Photo – HHP/Andrew Coppley
The 35th Annual NASCAR Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway wrapped up on Wednesday with two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders in Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
Logano – who won three races and finished second in points last year – believes NASCAR’s new points-for-winning-stages approach provides the nine-year veteran with a golden opportunity to capture his first series title.
“I know it’s going to be the right thing for the sport,” Logano said. “Every lap became more important. Every race became way more important and that’s good for everyone. … The way this whole format is structured is for a reason, for everyone to race hard and put on a great race for our fans. I don’t see anything but good things coming out of it so I’m really excited about everything coming up for this sport.
“It plays to the person’s advantage who takes the opportunity ahead of him. When there are changes like this, the first person who figures it out is going to have a huge advantage. If you can get some bonus points early in the year it sets you up well for when you get to Homestead.“
Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, won four races last year but wound up 12th in the standings after an up-and-down ten-race playoffs. An enhanced format, Keselowski said,
“…Re-fosters the connection between the regular season and the postseason.
“It’s important from the teams’ and drivers’ sides because it keeps us honest,” he added. “It keeps us from, not necessarily taking races off but keeping us from saying, ‘Let’s not take our best car to this race.’ … Our fans deserve to know that whatever they see on the weekend is guaranteed to be important. As drivers, I think you’re going to see more of a desire and an anger factor when things don’t go your way in the regular season.”