Joey Logano finally on track to end this bizarre 11-year streak?

Joey Logano has become NASCAR's "shark in the water". He may not always attack, but if you let him hang around long enough, he's going to get you eventually. He's always lurking, and ready to pounce with unstoppable power at any moment.

Especially with the current playoff format, all it takes is one moment anyways, right? Fans may not like it, but the No. 22 Team Penske team has mastered the championship-winning formula in modern day playoff NASCAR. Win a few races at the perfect time, and the Bill France Trophy is all theirs.

Logano added a third championship to his tally last season and was shrouded in controversy, given the fact his seven top five finishes, 13 top 10 finishes, and 17.11 average finish were all by far the lowest by any champion in series history, and after a P15 finish in the regular season standings. However, he led the playoffs with three wins in 10 races, including two of the final four.

This season, Logano has very similar numbers across the board, albeit with only one victory, and he just qualified for the round of 8 with a 20th place finish, following a dramatic last-lap incident between Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Logano is looking more and more poised to repeat as champion, and he is doing so in bizarre fashion.

Relatively speaking, Logano has performed poorly in odd-numbered years compared to even-numbered years.

From 2016 to 2025, he's won 17 races in even-numbered seasons, with three championships and five Championship 4 appearances, compared to just six wins and zero Championship 4 appearances in odd-numbered years. He even missed the playoffs entirely in 2017 after his win at Richmond Raceway was encumbered.

Factoring in his 2014 Championship 4 appearance, he's six-for-six in terms of getting there in even-numbered years, despite having yet to make it in an odd-numbered year.

With that, and his lackluster season up to this point, you'd be forgiven for thinking 2025 isn't Logano's year. In fact, he's listed by FanDuel Sportsbook as the least likely champion among the eight remaining title contenders.

However, you'd also be wrong, because his odd-numbered "curse" might be the single thing working against him for these final four races. There are so many other coincidences working for him that it's hard to even label them as such.

For one, this is the second straight year Logano has advanced to the round of 8 after late drama in the Charlotte Roval cutoff race. In 2024, he was inserted back into the playoff field hours after the race when Alex Bowman was disqualified, knocking him out. Of course, Logano took that huge break, and he ran with it to eventually win the championship.

But how did he get to the Championship 4 in the first place? He won just a week later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track he's scored career-high four victories at. That just so happens to be the next race on the calendar, and again, there appear to be some coincidences working in his favor for this coming weekend.

Logano is set to enter the round of 8 last among remaining championship contenders, 24 points below the Championship 4 cut line. So what if he doesn't win in Las Vegas?

Well, the next race is scheduled to take place at Talladega Superspeedway, a track where he has three wins. All it takes for any of the remaining eight playoff drivers to race for a championship at Phoenix Raceway is one win, and considering all the chaos that always comes with a playoff race at a drafting track, anything is possible.

If Logano makes it to the Championship 4, he'd have as good a chance as anybody to claim another championship.

Team Penske have not lost a championship since the dawn of the Next Gen era in 2022, with Logano winning two of those and teammate Ryan Blaney taking the crown in 2023. And oh yeah, Phoenix is tied with Las Vegas as Logano's winningest track.

Winning the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship would make Logano just the fifth driver to ever win four titles, joining Jeff Gordon as well as seven-time champions Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson.

Logano would also become the first repeat champion since the modern playoff era started in 2014, which would be incredibly fitting considering he's been heavily used as an example by the media and the fanbase to expose the format and its flaws.

So yes, odd-numbered seasons have not treated Logano kindly over his career, and 2025, up to this point has been no different. However, "Sliced Bread" is still here, and the clutch performer has three of his best tracks coming up over these final four races. It's entirely possible he wins all three of these races and takes another championship.

The real follow-up question, though, if he wins the 2025 championship and finally breaks his odd-numbered season streak, is this: could he possibly three-peat and become a five-time champion in the even-numbered 2026?