There has perhaps never been a more controversial and hotly debated topic in the NASCAR Cup Series than the modern playoff format, which was introduced as a round-by-round knockout format in 2014 and does very little to reward season-long performance over 36 races.
In 2015, Kyle Busch missed the season's first 11 races due to injury and still won the championship, and a decade later, there are still debates over how the playoff waiver system should work. But waivers aside, the fact that Joey Logano finished last year outside of the top 10 in total points and still won the title reignited that debate and perhaps made it hotter than ever before.
On one hand, you can understand the frustration. The way the playoffs are set up, drivers do not need to be on their A-game for more than a handful of races per year to have a chance at winning the championship. We saw this last year when Logano won to open up two of the three pre-championship rounds and effectively did nothing in the other two races in each round.
Additionally, the fact that last year's last place driver in points, Harrison Burton, was in the playoffs simply because he won a superspeedway race at Daytona International Speedway late in the regular season was also a point of emphasis for critics of the modern system, and rightfully so.
But the anger and frustration over Shane van Gisbergen being locked into the playoffs, and currently seeded No. 3 of 16 drivers, makes no sense.
We get it. He's 26th in points. There are other drivers higher than he is who aren't in the playoffs, and aren't even really close (unless they also win).
But he has won three times. Nobody has won more races than he has, he has done it with three dominant victories, and he has done it in a Next Gen era that has been characterized by its parity.
What's the point of racing if you're not trying to win?
The idea that being good on road courses, where all of van Gisbergen's wins have come, shouldn't matter is nonsense in this day and age. Those races wouldn't be on the schedule if they didn't mean something.
Every race matters, and every track matters. The playoffs consist of tracks of all shapes and sizes. And for a fanbase known to take offense to misinformed comments such as "all they do is turn left", this should be common sense, and fans should be embracing road course success.
And if you really want to get technical, there are six road and street course races, six superspeedway races, seven races at mile-and-a-half ovals, seven races at other standard intermediate tracks, seven short track races, and three races at non-drafting superspeedways.
That's a pretty even breakdown, all things considered.
But you don't hear anybody complaining if somebody only wins short tracks, for instance. Or maybe Chase Briscoe's Pocono Raceway win shouldn't count, because there are no other 2.5-mile "Tricky Triangle"-like layouts on the schedule.
"It's only a road course" no longer holds the weight it once did when there were only two on the calendar, especially not with how van Gisbergen has dominated the series over the last month or so.
Even if NASCAR hadn't gotten rid of the old requirement for winners to be in the top 30 in points in order for their wins to make them eligible for the playoffs, a rule that would have ultimately led to Burton being ineligible last year, van Gisbergen would still be safe.
And yes, getting rid of that rule was an awful decision. There should still be some kind of performance clause. But in no way should that performance clause be used to eliminate a driver performing at van Gisbergen's level. There mere suggestion is comical.
Let's face it: van Gisbergen is going to need to be better at ovals if he wants to have a chance to advance through the playoffs.
But that's the nature of the beast when you welcome nearly half of the full-time field into the postseason. There are probably eight or 10 other guys who could use some significant improvement at a number of different track types if they want to have any semblance of a shot. At least it's not the NBA, where only 70% of the post-regular season field had a winning record this past year.
That, in and of itself, is why Logano isn't a "fake" champion, even if his overall stats weren't great and his performance perfectly illustrated the main flaws of the modern playoff format. You still have to be at your best in the most crucial moments.
As far as van Gisbergen "stealing" a playoff berth from a "more deserving driver", I challenge you to look at who is currently at the playoff cut line.
Is Bubba Wallace, who hasn't won since 2022, a "more deserving driver" than van Gisbergen, just because his average finish is 17.5 rather than 21.9? Is Ryan Preece, who is still seeking his first Cup win in his sixth season, a "more deserving driver", just because his average is 17.0?
Van Gisbergen, believe it or not, has led more laps this season than one of the other three drivers with multiple wins. But evidently the goal should be to run 17th every week, rather than to actually win more races than anybody else in the field.
I thought NASCAR fans hated participation trophies. I guess I was wrong.