When you are stuck in a fuel mileage situation, only a few can survive. Several races in the NASCAR Cup Series this year were dotted with gas battles. But the most nail-biting one was probably in Nashville. Stretched to a record five overtime restarts, the Ally 400 race was laced with drama. Race leaders were cut down from the top one by one, except for Joey Logano and his team.

Logano was in no better a position—the unexpected length of the race strained his fuel tank as well. However, the No. 22 Team Penske folks were ready to risk it all. And that proved pivotal to the team’s eventual glory, as Joey Logano’s crew chief believes.

A make-or-break scenario that Joey Logano faced

Usually, the driver with the most fuel is expected to trump his rivals. Just reflect on the recently unfolded Brickyard 400 win. After nursing a painful double heartbreak, Kyle Larson was determined to conquer Indianapolis. While Brad Keselowski fell short on fuel in the final few laps, Larson’s freshly stocked gas tank propelled him to victory. Keselowski’s fuel gamble fell through, but his Team Penske rival Joey Logano managed to execute the same strategy flawlessly.

Both Joey Logano and his No. 22 crew chief, Paul Wolfe, talked to NASCAR on NBC about their Nashville triumph. It was definitely not an easy one and relied on Wolfe’s courage and expertise. He revealed that the calls he made to drain out the gas tank were risky but beneficial. “When you’re running 20th, there’s more of an upside than a downside to those types of calls. So as we evaluated new tire wear…to some it may seem risky to do that. But honestly, we ran some of our fastest laps on two tires.”

At that moment, the team had no win since March 2023 and was beneath the cutoff line. So it was a tough call—they could either make a dash for victory or run out of fuel and potentially lose a lot of points. But some factors helped: of the 110 laps Joey Logano ran, 69 were under green flag conditions, and 51 were under caution. He shut off his engine at times under caution and somehow made it happen.

Joey Logano recalled the nerve-racking moments fighting off a raging Tyler Reddick: “I didn’t realize that Reddick was as fast as he was. When he cleared and…raided out my bumper…I gotta fight this car off on tires…his tires were so fast. I blocked him off at two, I thought I was in good shape but then we started running out of gas…Finally off of turn 4, enough of a gap where we did run out of gas…so just barely moving. Maybe not the race I thought we were gonna win, but it all worked out.”

Besides Joey Logano’s winning mentality, it all worked out due to Paul Wolfe’s fearless attitude as well.

The No. 22 crew chief can be tough

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A former racer himself, Paul Wolfe understands the nitty-gritty of intense NASCAR Cup racing. He competed in the NASCAR Busch North Series (2000-2004) and in the Busch Series (2003-2005). Who better to guide Penske star Joey Logano to a resounding victory? The duo have worked together for five seasons at Team Penske, and have accumulated 12 wins already, the last one coming at the Ally 400 race. And Logano tipped his hat to Wolfe’s daredevil attitude. “It’s fun driving for him, it’s a little uncomfortable. He puts you in an uncomfortable scenario.”

Earlier this year on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Logano had explained his relationship with Wolfe. He praised his racer mentality: “Paul’s a racer. He wants to win…is the most competitive person I think I’ve met, and he does it in a quiet way, so no one really knows..doesn’t talk a whole bunch. I kind of pull it out of him sometimes.” And Logano can be completely honest with Wolfe. “There’s no high; there’s no low, it’s just here [with Wolfe]. When we win, I get emotional; I get excited. I’m like, ‘We work so hard. You get so pissed off when we don’t win, can you be happy when we do win?’ It’s fun to work with him.”

The No. 22 Team Penske fold has a unity that propels them to choose to win in overly risky situations. Let us wait and see if Joey Logano can leave a mark in the playoffs with this help.