Talk about one’s lofty expectations backfiring bitterly. Joey Logano had immense prospects heading into Talladega Superspeedway. The No. 22 Team Penske has won at the 2.66-mile Alabama oval three times and was inducted into the Talladega Walk of Fame on Saturday. What is more? Logano is fresh off his third Cup Series championship. However, an unexpected tussle with his teammate led to a series of karmic events. And an MLB legend is more than glad about it.

Chipper Jones, a Class of 2018 inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, holds NASCAR close to his heart. The 53-year-old baseball champ closely followed the Jack Link’s 500 – and could not help commenting with a harsh jab at Joey Logano’s embarrassing fate.

Joey Logano becomes the laughing stock

Well, this fallout was expected, but nobody thought it would come so soon. On the final lap of the second stage at Talladega, a line of Fords was dominating the front pack. Austin Cindric was on the outside, and when he saw Logano appear in front of him, he was forced to check up and get out of line. Logano moved back to the bottom after seeing Cindric’s move, and that allowed Bubba Wallace’s Toyota to get ahead easily and take stage 2.

Joey Logano did not get the push he was expecting from his teammate, Cindric. So the #22 launched into an unwarranted barrage of expletives at the No. 2 Ford driver. But soon enough, this unpleasant mood turned into regret as Cindric wheeled his No. 2 car to Victory Lane. He edged out Ryan Preece by 0.22 seconds for the finish while Logano’s No. 22 Ford finished 5th. Logano had to eat humble pie in a post-race interview and hailed his teammate’s win. However, karma was not done playing with Logano.

Fans were already piling up critical comments against Joey Logano‘s aggressive radio communication before the second phase of karma hit. But the real blow for Logano was that his first top-5 finish of the season was snatched away. Both Logano and Ryan Preece were disqualified after NASCAR found technical violations in both cars’ rear spoilers in post-race inspection. Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford had an unsecured bolt on the rear spoiler. He lost the nine stage points he accrued and shrank from 5th to 39th place in the final running order. This additionally dropped Logano from 8th to 11th in the championship standings. This fallout elicited a snide comment from Chipper Jones on X, who was more than pleased at Logano’s unfortunate turn of events.

Chipper Jones wrote, “Congrats to@AustinCindricon his@TALLADEGA win. Good teammates are hard to come by, Boss! Remember that one of urs MFed u on national tv, when in all actuality, u did everything possible to keep from wrecking him. Hate to be #dueces in the ‘team’ meeting on Monday. Some people are ‘hooray for our team as long as I’m the star’ as every team has them. Hendrick, RCR, JGR, Penske, etc. Sometimes karma is glorious. Enjoy this one! In case anyone is confused, lemme be clear….@joeylogano.”

Chipper Jones has been an avid NASCAR fan since his childhood days, having grown up around Daytona. However, his comment as an outsider may not hold as much weight as what Joey Logano’s own team said. In an official statement, Team Penske declared that no appeal would be made for Logano’s infraction. “One of the 18 bolts on the surface of the spoiler that connect to the base was found to be loose, and NASCAR penalized the team as a result. This was not intentional and happened throughout the course of the race event. Team Penske accepts the disqualification.” 

Clearly, Joey Logano is going through a rough day. As Chipper Jones consolidates his dislike for the Team Penske driver, he can also applaud his favorite team.

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A fan of the ‘golden boys’

Chipper Jones is mainly known for his MLB (Major League Baseball) career. He played as the third baseman in MLB for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. However, the veteran player trumpeted his presence somewhere off the field as well – at the racetrack, to be precise. Having watched Richard Petty’s 200th Cup Series victory and being a diehard fan of Cale Yarborough, Jones knows NASCAR by the pulse.

He gave the command to start engines as the grand marshal at a 2013 Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega. What is more? Jones has even jumped in a race car for a show on the Sportsman Channel! So this MLB legend definitely has a favorite Cup Series team and driver in NASCAR. Any guesses as to who that might be? Well, if your thoughts lingered around the winningest team in NASCAR, then you are absolutely right. Chipper Jones is a fan of Chase Elliott and the entire Hendrick Motorsports team.

In an interview ahead of the MLB match at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2024, Chipper Jones confessed his fanboy emotions. “I’m a huge Chase fan. He’s a big Braves fan. We’ve been buddies for a long time. I go to races. He goes to Braves games. We kind of scratch each other’s backs. I’m a huge fan. I was a huge fan of Jeff Gordon and all the guys at Hendrick Motorsports.”

Hendrick Motorsports had a good outing at Talladega on Sunday, as Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Elliott landed in the top five. Alex Bowman was not too far off in 7th. Clearly, Jones got a chance to root for his favorite drivers at the Jack Link’s 500.

So while Chipper Jones is celebrating Joey Logano’s reputation going up for a toss again this year, the latter has no time to lick his wounds from the Talladega race. Let us see if the Team Penske driver can make up for his misfortune in future races. What do you think of Joey Logano’s antics at Talladega? Let us know in the comments!