BRISTOL, Tenn.—Joey Logano was just hanging on halfway through Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Twelve circuits later, on Lap 262, while running 27th, the defending NASCAR Cup champion was swept into a wreck and eliminated from the race—and title hunt—after Corey LaJoie lost control of his car and spun, collecting Logano, Justin Haley, Ryan Newman and Ty Dillon.
Unfortunately for Logano, his car wasn’t competitive enough to contend at Thunder Valley.
“What are we missing? Speed—just a lot of things,” Logano said after he was cleared from the infield care center at Bristol. “It’s what happens. You don’t go fast enough, you’re in the back and they wreck in front of you at Bristol on a restart and you’re going so fast that you can’t whoa up or turn or do anything, and you get kind of pile-drove into the wreck. It’s our own fault.”
Logano entered the final race in the Round of 16 eleventh in the Playoff standings, 12 points above the cut line for the next round. On Friday, he qualified 28th at Bristol, a track where he has won twice on asphalt and once on dirt. But starting at a deficit left no room for error for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford—and no room for misfortune.
Although Logano was initially optimistic, ultimately finishing 34th was the death knell of his title run. Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Michael McDowell also fell below the cutline and were eliminated.
“I haven’t really felt like we’ve made any big gains that we need to and unfortunately it seems like it’s at every track,” Logano said as he watched the race from the infield. “Typically you may say, ‘Oh, we’re off on a mile-and-a-half, but our short tracks are OK, or your road courses are OK.’ It just seems like we’re off everywhere right now, so we’ll see what happens here the rest of the race and if we get knocked out it gives us a few races to swing big and try to figure it out for next year.
“That’s about where we’re at, so we’ll wait anxiously. I keep watching the TV behind you. I’m pretty distracted at the moment, but it is what it is. We just move forward from here.”
Since NASCAR introduced the Playoff format in 2014, Logano has advanced from the Round of 16 in nine of 10 seasons. On four occasions, he’s moved on to the Championship 4—winning the title in 2018 and last season. Saturday night’s elimination marks the first time the defending champion has not qualified for the Round of 12.
But the aerodynamic decisions made by the Blue Oval prior to this season bit Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing the most. While the smaller teams—Roush Fenway Keselowski and Front Row Motorsports have been able to pivot, Penske has struggled. Only Ryan Blaney advanced to the Round of 12 with fellow Ford drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher.
As Logano left Kansas Speedway last week with a fifth-place finish, he said one of the biggest challenges of 2023 has been learning to race for 15th. For a driver who is accustomed to winning races and championships, it’s crushing.
“It takes something different out of a driver to drive a car in 15th and tonight we weren’t even that,” Logano said. ”It’s a little uncharacteristic for us right now and we just have to go to work and keep our heads down and stay faithful in each other, keep trusting each other that we can figure it out.
“It’s still the same team that won the championship last year. We’re a little lost at the moment, but we’ll keep fighting and try to figure some things out.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
