Quaker State 400 Revives the “Good Points Day”

Joey Logano brought home the win for the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Via the win, Logano has now clinched his spot into the Round of 12 of the playoffs. It was no surprise to see Logano (and Team Penske) run strongly throughout the event. In 5 Drivers to Watch, Logano was mentioned as the driver who was likely most excited to see Atlanta in the playoffs. After being eliminated from the first round last year, Logano can now cruise through the next two races. Meanwhile, 15 other drivers will still battle to grab the last 11 spots. For some, Sunday was a solid race for setting themselves up for the rest of the first round. However, that pesky phrase that the applauded must win format eliminated from the first 26 races returned: “good points day”.

A persistent theme throughout the post-race interviews of the playoff drivers who finished in the Top-10 was how they had a good points day. In total, 8 playoff drivers came home with a Top-10. All of them during their post-race comments discussed how it was a “good points day”. When numerous playoff drivers had incidents to take them out of the race, capitalizing on that with a good result is important. Moreso, Daniel Suarez was told before the last restart to not go all out for the win since he was in line for a Top-3 finish.

“Nothing crazy. If the win is there, let’s take it. But let’s make sure we get out of here with a Top-2 or 3” Daniel Suarez radio ##QuakerState400 #NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs

— Griffin Fuller (@fuller_grif) September 8, 2024

After the hype about eliminating that phrase during the regular season, it returns with a vengeance immediately as the playoffs arrive. While there is an inherent difference between a regular season versus a playoff, the last two weeks seemed to establish the goal of eliminating points racing. Winning should be everything in this age of NASCAR. Yet, this format scrubs that sentiment away for at least two rounds due to the nature of the elimination format. No matter what occurs during the first three races, at least 9 drivers will have to point their way into the playoffs. There is no avoiding it, which means the “good points day” style of racing will return. Since there is only one winner per week, the remaining playoff drivers will have to compete to maximize their point total.

Now, there should be nothing wrong with this. However, the overwhelming sentiment applauding the “must-win” format with the Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe wins feels a bit shallow. It is a stark contrast to experience those opinions so vehemently when unsung heroes win to see the championship favorites relaxing after surviving Atlanta. Especially considering Kyle Larson wrecked out early, the importance of finishing the race only strengthened from there. Gathering stage points and ending the race in one piece turned into the key measure of success. That meant the goal was a “good points day”.

After Atlanta, the big question on the mind is whether NASCAR feels that point sentiment is an issue. Before Sunday, it clearly seemed to be an issue since the “must win” dwindles the points racing. Drivers and teams cannot bank on pointing their way into playoffs, especially in the NextGen era. So after numerous interviews about having a good points day, it is a wonder if NASCAR is unhappy with the result.

One more thing. The goal of a superspeedway from the entertainment perspective is the wild card element of it. However, the way that the playoff format is set nullifies that. Not only from the points racing perspective, but also teammates who are not in the playoffs. Lining up behind Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain had no intention of winning the race. His only goal was to push Suarez to the win. While that was the end of the race, that sentiment has to flow through the field. After 26 races of screaming “these drivers must go all out for the win”, that too goes out the window. If you are a driver with a playoff teammate, you must push them to the win.

While putting Atlanta in the playoffs always for another wild card, it is also dampens the superspeedway racing. The Quaker State 400 was a far cry from the excitement that Atlanta’s spring race gave fans. While not a boring race, there were less notable moments to draw from the Quaker State 400 due to the subdued nature of a playoff race. Heading into the Round of 12, Talladega will face the same issue. Sure, the ending might turn into the usual superspeedway fare. However, the early portions will be a bit more mundane than the regular season events.