Joey Logano Trashes Allegations of Unfair All-Star Race Advantage With a Reality Check – “How Do You Even Know?”

Besides the brawl-studded festivities of the All-Star Race, fireworks were in place for the winning race team. The No. 22 team executed a marvelous job in sticking to the pole throughout the race. The lack of dramatic passes turned it into a snooze fest for fans, but the ending was spectacular for Joey Logano who secured his first win of the season.

But people cast doubt over the Penske driver’s legitimacy. Earlier this year, Joey Logano had the privilege to experience the unique race conditions beforehand. Hence the argument could be raised that he had an unfair advantage. However, the two-time Cup champion recently burst this rumor-laden bubble.

Joey Logano deflates All-Star doubts

Speaking of unfair advantages and Joey Logano: Does it ring a bell? The Atlanta Cup race this year was spiced up because Logano used an ingenious maneuver. The Team Penske driver’s webbed gloves gave him an aerodynamic advantage and he almost got away with it. However, NASCAR caught him and slapped him with a $10,000 fine.

But this time, Joey Logano is adamant about his innocence. Back in March, three drivers were gifted with the opportunity to do a Goodyear tire test. It included William Byron, Ty Gibbs, and Joey Logano. Logano also ran 880 laps on the newly repaved North Wilkesboro track. This preliminary exercise naturally gave the driver a feel of the upcoming All-Star Race.

But Logano firmly believes his chances were equal to any other driver’s. In a recent episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, he said it is impossible to learn from the past year. “Even after the race, you know what you wanna fix in your car, but you’re gonna go back there next year. Everything else is different and you think, is it better than last year? How do you even know?”

Hence the few tire tests that teams get are the only chances to hone their skills. “You get one test a year if you’re lucky…The test is the only opportunity you have to work on your car, try things, get a direction for any race track…Tire tests are tough too, ’cause you really only get a couple of hours to work on your car. Then they start throwing tires at you.”

Joey Logano further elaborated on the Goodyear test, slightly admitting that he reaped some benefits. “We’re invited to their test, they own the test…They just as a gift give you a couple of hours to make sure your car is driving decent…You take those couple of hours and you cherish them because they’re everything. So we did that and we just started firing tires at it and did 50-lap runs…We were able to figure out some things along the way. The good thing is that we finally capitalized on that.”

Contrary to Joey Logano’s hesitant admission, his crew chief readily claimed that the tire test pushed their chances ahead for the All-Star Race.

The No. 22 crew chief attributes glory to the test

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Joey Logano had the foremost advantage from the outset, owning the pole position. But the crew chief’s decisions added momentum. Paul Wolfe opted not to pit after an early caution flag, along with four other teams. While others swapped to the yellow, prime tires, Logano’s car took fresh reds after a halfway pit stop. This lent persistence without a break and ultimately handed Logano the $1 Million purse.

What’s more, Paul Wolfe openly admitted that the NWS tire test helped the team. “We were fortunate to get the Goodyear tire test here a couple of months ago and I think we took obviously a lot of what we learned here. The guys back at the shop and the guys preparing the cars took all that data and information, and we’re able to bring something back.”

So clearly, Joey Logano may be evading the advantage question Kevin Harvick.