Christopher Bell made a stunning run on Sunday to emerge victorious in the Shriners Children’s 500. While the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had a pleasant time, it wasn’t the case for some of the other drivers. Unfortunately for Joey Logano, he had time to forget courtesy of one of Jimmie Johnson’s team members, John Hunter Nemechek.
After the 2020 Cup Series season, Nemechek made his return to the competition this year. While his start has been decent, his act at Phoenix Raceway was quite questionable.
John Hunter Nemechek triggered a six-car wreck at Phoenix Raceway
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On Sunday, Toyota enjoyed a good run, especially with Christopher Bell winning the race. It only got better with Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr, and Tyler Reddick all finishing in the top ten. While it boosted the morale in the Toyota camp, it wasn’t the case when John Hunter Nemechek wrecked Joey Logano.
It has been a frustrating season for Logano and his team so far. In the first four races, the #22 driver has been involved in a wreck three times. Having just a single top-ten finish, Logano seems to be falling short of his standards. Having said that, the Team Penske driver wasn’t having a good time in Arizona as well.
Having lost a lap and racing for the free pass, the race was already challenging enough for Logano. It only got worse in the 206th lap when John Hunter Nemechek hard shot into the 2022 Cup Series champion. While entering the first corner, the JGR driver wrecked Logano, spinning the #22 driver.
With Logano having no chance to save his car, he collected several others including Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith, and Derek Kraus. This unluckily ended the race for Logano, Kraus, and LaJoie. What’s worse is that Nemechek’s act ended LaJoie’s incredible streak of 44 races without a DNF.
As the on-track radio chatter recently came to light, the #42 driver was seen feeling guilty about his act. He said, “My bad, man. I didn’t mean to get into the #22.” However, Nemechek also felt that Logano slowed up way early, indicating the Team Penske driver’s role in the incident.
“What the (expletive), man!” Radioactive: Phoenix. #NASCAR #RaceHub pic.twitter.com/R2X2uMre7z
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 12, 2024
Unsurprisingly, Joey Logano didn’t buy into Nemechek’s explanation and was left quite furious.
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Joey Logano had some strong words for Jimmie Johnson’s driver post-Phoenix Raceway wreck
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It is understandable why Joey Logano and his team were upset about what happened on Sunday. At a time when he is trying to find his feet on the track, any act that’d seem uncalled for can trigger a reaction. As Logano got out of the Care Center on Sunday, Logano refused to accept John Hunter Nemechek’s reasoning behind the act.
Speaking to the media, the #22 driver said, “Just got hit from behind. Overdrove the corner behind me and uh, wrecked us. It’s a shame, we weren’t running good at all anyway but doesn’t make it any better. Fighting for lucky dogs. You get back there and everyone’s racing not real good and we were caught up in one.”
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Logano also made sure to strongly rebut Nemechek’s narrative about slowing down. He said, “I didn’t slow a bit. Well, you gotta lift to make the corners, Bob. You can’t hold it wide open around Phoenix and maybe he should take a look and realize he can’t do that too. He drove straight in the back of me and he needs to be man enough to own up to that.”
Naturally, Nemechek’s act has upset Logano. As he didn’t mean to do it, he ensured to reach out and apologize. As reported by Jayski.com, the #42 driver said, “I want to apologize to Joey. I’m going to reach out to Joey. I’ll probably reach out to Paul Wolfe and Roger Penske. I guess just misjudged it. I hit the brake pedal pretty hard, and it didn’t really slow down and I got in the back of him. It’s my fault. I made a mistake and I’ve got to learn from it, and own it.”
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Despite Nemechek’s apologetic statements, it will be interesting to see how Logano approaches the next race at Bristol this weekend.
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