Joey Logano’s Crew Chief Declares “It’s Hard to be Dominant” In Cup with the New Format

NASCAR changed the championship format ahead of the 2026 season, getting rid of the win and in playoffs format to return to the original chase format. One driver that was hurt with the change with the most in the start of the season was Joey Logano, who won three championships in the playoff’s era.  

The No:22 Ford driver couldn’t catch a break at the start of the season but made a comeback after finding consistency in the last six races, which earned him two wins. The veteran’s crew chief Paul Wolfe made a solid assessment of the situation, and pointed out that for drivers from P5 to P15 there is consistency.

From that fifth to 15th range, I don’t know how much consistency is there. You see guys, and we’re an example of it, can go weeks and not run good, and then all of a sudden you run good for three or four weeks.

Paul Wolfe explained about 2026.

The drivers in this situation including Joey Logano need a good or bad streak of couple of races to move up or down in the points table. He also highlighted it’s not necessary to be in the top 5 from the start of the season to be in the championship contention as it is really tough to be dominant in the new era with the format change.

The consistency among the field seems just different than it was when we were in this format however many years ago. We all said, ‘Oh if you’re not in the top three to five, you don’t have a chance.’ But I just think the racing in general is a little bit different, and the competition among the field, and how hard it is to be dominant.

Paul Wolfe added via motorsport.com.

Paul Wolfe explains how the new format has changed the reality for Joey Logano and fellow racers

Later in the same conversation, the veteran pointed out that he was really surprised how much they improved in the table in a handful of races in the last two months. He is hoping that he is they can continue producing good runs for the remaining 11 races and progress more in the table.

It’s definitely eye-opening to how much we’ve actually gained. At one point it was, let’s hope we can get in this thing. Now we’re sitting ninth and a few points out of eighth. It just goes to show if you get on a run and put together a bunch of really good races, that you can maybe score more points than what you think.

Paul Wolfe said.

Earlier Wolfe also highlighted how the format change alongside the Next-Gen cars have changed the sport forever. No teams can gain a real advantage just by working on the car and that gives ever the racer at P10 a solid shot at the championship.

I feel like back when I got started in this 15 years ago, you had teams that could get an advantage with just their car in general. So, you could see guys go on runs. You just don’t see that as much. Maybe that’s a part of the don’t count yourself out just because you’re 10th in points. I think maybe we’re a little bit of an example of that. I think that gives us a little bit of optimism as we get ready for the Chase to start.

Paul Wolfe added.

The comments from the veteran team official are on point and this understanding have been the key to the No:22 team often producing the most clutch runs of the era. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the rest of the season under Wolfe’s leadership.

Also Read: Ty Gibbs Insists He “Got a Good Shot” at 2026 NASCAR Cup Title