Joey Logano has certainly heard the noise since emerging as the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champion despite a 15th place finish in the regular season standings.
There have always been complaints about the playoff format, specifically after the round-by-round, knockout format was introduced in 2014, and that criticism was at its loudest after Logano won last year's title.
He wouldn't have even made the playoffs had it not been for a five-overtime victory at Nashville Superspeedway, when his only real competition coming to the checkered flag was Zane Smith, who was in last place in the point standings at the time.
Logano now has three championships since 2018, yet at no point has he been the overall top point scorer over a full season.
He doesn't care.
Logano had a rough start to the 2025 season, but based on how last year went, there were no alarm bells. Nobody was hitting the panic button. But he finally got things going at Texas Motor Speedway a couple weekends ago. His first finish higher than eighth place this year was a win.
With the win, he is all but locked into the playoffs, and NASCAR fans know what that means.
And part of what it means for Logano is a sense of relief, since now what he calls "step one" en route to his only real "goal" is in the books.
"Yeah, absolutely," he told Beyond the Flag when asked if getting the win provided him and the No. 22 team with a sense of relief. "We still had a better start than we had last year, but it wasn't the greatest of starts. It just seemed like things were happening. We had speed in our cars. We were getting stage points, things were going well, but just the stupidest things that happened. You name it, it happened."
Even though it's still May, the focus for the No. 22 team is now on the playoffs.
"So to finally break through and get the win, cool," he said. "It's great, right? It's a little bit of relief, but it's also keep the throttle down, right? We cannot stop, keep the hammer down, because it is just one piece of getting to the final mission, the final goal of winning the championship.
"Getting in the playoffs, that's step one. Step two, get as many playoff points from now to when the playoffs start so we have the best chance to get to the Championship 4. That's step two and three, and then ultimately win the championship."
Regardless of the criticism of the modern format, a championship is still a championship, and that has always been Logano's approach. It's worked for him three times, and he's hoping this year marks a fourth.
"The No. 22 car has one goal," he added. "That's it, just to win the championship. Nobody cares about how you get there or whatever comes with that, it's just to get the big trophy. And so step one is complete. Now we have to keep going."
The modern playoff format has been in place for 11 years now, with 2025 set to mark year 12. In every single even-numbered year, Logano has gone to the Championship 4. Yet he has never made it to the Championship 4 in an odd-numbered year.
"Boy, I hope so," he said when asked if he thinks this is the year that trend is snapped. "It's been crazy how long that's lasted, but we're trying really hard, I promise."