PHOENIX -- If Joey Logano has made anything clear the past couple years, it's that he won't let anyone dictate how he races.
The Team Penske driver is comfortable with how he has raced his competitors, and that won't change with the news of the past four weeks in NASCAR.
If any NASCAR Cup driver had an impact on either the retirement of Carl Edwards or the new points format, Logano could be the one who played the biggest role.
Edwards tried to block Logano with 10 laps remaining in the season finale at Homestead in November, in an attempt to remain the top driver among the championship contenders, and they crashed, which ended Edwards' hopes. Edwards decided he would step away from racing less than a month later.
Last week, NASCAR announced a new points format, part of which awarded five "playoff points" for race wins throughout the season. Drivers carry those points into each playoff round except for the final race at Homestead.
In 2015, Logano was criticized for turning Matt Kenseth while battling for the win at Kansas a week after Logano won at Charlotte. Part of the criticism centered on the fact that the win meant nothing for the championship because Logano had already advanced to the next round with the Charlotte win and bonus points didn't carry over to the next round.
Logano's thoughts on these topics? He's going to continue to race like he always has.
"For some drivers, [the new format] changes their mentality," Logano said Monday following an announcement of grandstand renovations and the moving of the start-finish line at Phoenix Raceway. "For me, it doesn't change me.
"I raced to win those races that year like everything was on the line because that is how I'm wired. I'm wired to win whatever I'm doing. ... I didn't need more reason, but I think other drivers do, so that's good for the sport."
Kenseth, who would have advanced to the semifinal round with a win at Kansas, retaliated against Logano at Martinsville with a crash that impacted Logano's failing to advance to the championship round.
Logano's move at Kansas likely would have been viewed differently by many inside the sport under the 2017 points format because of the importance of those playoff points.
"For some, it means something now," Logano said. "I didn't get anything out of winning that race that year besides a trophy, which I still think is worth it.
"For some, they look at it differently and say, 'Why did you even try to win the race? Why didn't you just finish second.' I don't know. It sounds like a loser thing to do to me."
As far as Edwards, Logano said he was surprised when he heard of Edwards' decision to not race this year. Edwards was not angry with Logano about the Homestead incident -- he went to his pit box afterward to tell his team there were no hard feelings -- and Edwards gave no indication to Logano that he was thinking of retiring when they saw each other a couple weeks later.
"I was more just surprised in general that it happened," Logano said. "I wasn't really thinking much about what his last race was or how it ended. ... The question is still why, but it is none of my business."
So there's no feeling that he caused Edwards to retire, even though Edwards said he was stepping out of the car because he was content with his career and he was healthy?
"Believe me, everyone told me that," Logano said with a laugh about his potential impact on Edwards' decision. "It wasn't my first thought. We talked a lot out in Vegas at the banquet about all that. We agreed on it.
"The first time we saw each other, we both shrugged our shoulders. He knows I had to do it, and he knows he had to do it. And I get that, and he gets it. Whatever his reasons were [to retire], I'm sure it makes a lot of sense to him."