WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.: Over the last decade, the even years in NASCAR have worked in Joey Logano and Team Penske’s favor.
Since 2014, Logano has been involved in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, winning two championships in 2018 and 2022, respectively, second in 2016, third in 2020 and fourth in 2014.
Capturing his second win of the season last Sunday at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in the Quaker State 400 has propelled the No. 22 team from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12, kicking off at Kansas Speedway later this month.
The recent surge of strong performances from the Ford Performance camp has given hope to Logano and his team that perhaps a third championship could be ahead this November at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
However, Logano explained on Friday at Watkins Glen, when Ford went winless and struggled to find the speed in their race cars early in the season, there was a sense of nervousness and, yes, even panic about whether the Ford teams would be able to recover.
“Yeah, the panic set in, I think, within the first eight weeks,” said Logano. “The panic set in. You know, over the off-season, you know, new car and all the numbers look great, but then you get on the racetrack and the numbers don’t translate, there’s a lot of different variables on the reasons why that is and learning that we got a lot of work to do like this isn’t everything it was cracked up to be.”
Logano praised not only his team but Ford for hunkering down and spending a lot of time to right the ship and bring more competitive cars to the race track as teams inch forward.
“There’s a lot to do here,” added Logano. “I think everyone had done a good job at accepting that and going to work to fix it. Everyone has done a good job at moving the needle and getting us closer.”
In the last 15 races, Ford has won eight times with six different drivers and four different organizations (Team Penske, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Wood Brothers Racing), bringing a good vibe to Logano and all the Ford teams in the postseason.
“I feel like we’ve executed good races,” explained Logano. “Some of the tracks may have fallen into some of our hands where some of our strengths may be. Do I think we’re strong at every track or the best at every track? I can’t say that. I think there’s still a lot of work to be done, but that’s probably just who I am in general.
“I always look at the things we can be better at but I’ll say the teams have done a good job at maximizing what they got and and learning a lot from the beginning of the year. Ford’s done a good job at trying to make up the deficit that we were at and trying to catch these guys.”
The 34-time Cup winner insisted that it’s not just one thing that has turned the tide for the Ford teams, it’s been a mixture of everything, both on and off the track.
“There are a lot of different factors that go into all of that. A lot. A lot in the sport as well,” sounded Logano. “And it’s how things change around, the cycle, the flow, the momentum, and all those types of things. But I’m glad to see that we seem to be on the right track right now. But there’s still a long ways to go in this season, for sure.”
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