As Joey Logano powered himself into the Cup Series playoffs, an Xfinity driver lost her playoff chances. Hailie Deegan, who entered NASCAR’s second tier this year, with hopes of building on her commendable performance in Craftsman Truck, is in a slump already. Halfway through the year, Deegan’s fortunes have fallen, recording only four top-20 finishes. The below-average performances have definitely chipped away her team’s faith in her. She has been replaced by Joey Logano in Chicago.

Dale Jr. sympathized with Deegan and speculated on how Logano could help her if she wanted to stick around for long. He said, “In Chicago what are they really going to learn, I would be shocked and surprised. I believe if Joey goes to their shop and hops in the No. 15 car and goes racing, will this car have an engineer from Penske involved? That’s a bit unusual,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, clearly, there is no red carpet for Logano’s Xfinity comeback, as the Team Penske driver recently revealed.

A big help or a blunder for AM Racing in Chicago?

Team Penske did set off on a slow start to the Cup Series this season, and Joey Logano was nowhere near the front row, while his teammate Ryan Blaney had some narrow finishes. But Roger Penske is back in the game, as the team started winning a few weeks ago, and Logano completed a trifecta victory at Nashville. And now he is all set to continue the glory in the Xfinity Series, where he last ran a race in 2019.

Given Logano’s 30 Xfinity wins, Roger Penske is willing to let the No. 22 go without aid. However, Dale Jr. is curious about the benefits without any support that AM Racing is looking for. Shedding the light on the same, on the 3rd July episode of The Dale Jr. Download, Logano outlined the amount of Penske support he is getting to replace Hailie Deegan in one word, which is, “None.”

Then Logano added the details of the minimal help that he was getting. “The support… they helped me put the seat in, that’s good. They gave me a seat to use, and I will use their gear (laughs)…but outside of that, we are going with what they got.”

What Joey Logano did in Nashville was commendable. Team Penske’s gamble for his No. 22 Ford Mustang’s fuel for a final push to the checkered flag was a great show of strategy. “Boy, it was close. But we’ve got to give a lot of credit to Roush Yates, not only building horsepower but building fuel mileage. That’s what won today,” is what he said while concluding his day.

Looking at his win last weekend, he definitely has a shining chance to get an Xfinity win under his belt after so long. Besides the 30 trophies, he owns 36 poles and 95 top-fives in NASCAR’s second tier. Last year, he started 7th and finished 8th in the Cup Series’ first-ever Chicago Street Race. However, this shiny resume may feel like a slap on Hailie Deegan’s face as her team ditched her for Logano, but it surely answers Dale Jr.’s concerns over the swap.

On the other hand, sitting 27th in the driver rankings, Hailie Deegan could not stumble beyond a 12th-place finish this year. Given that only 38 of 43 cars can qualify for Chicago, AM Racing chose to eject Deegan for the weekend. Hailie Deegan’s qualifying efforts on road courses include 35th at COTA and 38th at Portland. Thus, the No. 15 driver’s future looks bleak, as NASCAR would not grant her a waiver for getting benched in Chicago.

In fact, her rookie season in the Xfinity Series witness an average finish of 26.8. 17 of her races ended with a 20th or better result. All of this leads the young driver to stand in the 27th place in Xfinity. But as Hailie Deegan’s fate hangs in the balance, Joey Logano is resuming his glorious streak. Replacing Deegan’s ride would also boost his Chicago efforts.

Logano is taking full advantage of Deegan’s misery…

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Even though there is no special Penske support for Joey Logano, one factor gives Logano an edge over his competitors in Chicago. Last year, drivers were allowed to run only one race on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile road course. NASCAR did not wish anybody to get the advantage of experience. But this year, double duty is permitted. Joey Logano is one of nine drivers scheduled to run both Xfinity and Cup. The others include A.J. Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, and Josh Bilicki.

While Hailie Deegan wallows in misery, Logano gets a competitive edge. “Racing in the rain on Chicago’s Street Course last year was a challenge within itself,” said Logano. “Any extra seat time is always a positive for unique tracks such as this one. Driving the NASCAR Xfinity Series cars is a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to climbing behind the wheel of the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang, with high hopes to wheel it to the front.”

Additionally, AM Racing president Wade Moore stated that they intend to learn from Logano’s extensive experience. They want things to be competitive, which wasn’t the case so far. “When the opportunity to have Joey in the car at Chicago became a possibility, we felt we needed to take advantage of the knowledge and feedback that a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion could provide to our teams’ growth,” Moore stated.

Hence, as Hailie Deegan’s door is shutting for Chicago, Joey Logano’s is opening, taking him back to his Xfinity days. The curious question remains: Will AM Racing achieve the desired result with no support for the Cup driver from Team Penske? All we can do is wait and see how the Team Penske driver performs in Chicago.