Despite Joey Logano’s Best Efforts, Michael Jordan’s Driver Humbles the Grid at Kansas

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano did everything he could to get on victory lane in Kansas last Sunday. From an unusual pit strategy to aggressive driving, the Team Penske man left nothing to chance and yet he came up short against a spirited young driver of Michael Jordan’s NASCAR driver, who shocked the world when he took the checkered flag to seal his place in the next round of the playoffs.

For the longest time during the race, Joey Logano was never in a good position to challenge for the win but NASCAR is a funny sport. One end-of-the-race caution and the entire pack reshuffles and Logano is someone who thrives off of these kinds of situations. He did try to make the most of it, but his gamble did not pay off.

“Restarting Machine” Joey Logano Lived up to His Reputation

Logano was nowhere near the pace during qualifying, as he could not even get into the top 10. However, after the session, he had said that everyone was going to be really aggressive with each other, and when the green flag fell with only two laps to go, aggression was the name of the game for the defending champion.

He was in 16th place when the caution fell and he opted for a two-tire strategy instead of four, which most cars on the track chose. This massively lifted him up the track, as far as up to third place. When the green flag fell, the Team Penske man did not waste a second as he swooped to the inside of Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez.

Suarez then started dropping places, and the fight was between Erik Jones and Joey Logano when the latter had his nose barely ahead. From 16th place, Logano had climbed to the lead. It’s like Steve Letarte said while dissecting the restart on NASCAR Inside The Race, “Joey’s Joey. I mean he is a restarting machine, so big track position.”

But as Jones and Logano were locked in a battle for the lead, the #45 23XI Racing car of Tyler Reddick moved from the outside of the track to the inside, used the baking to gain extra momentum, and zoomed past the pair of them. That was it. There was no stopping the #45 after that.

“Yeah he rolled to the top, got great momentum coming down the hill. Those two (43 and 22) are side drafting each other pulling both of their speeds away, Tyler Reddick makes an easy pass,” Todd Gordon added on Inside The Race.

As the checkered flag fell on an eventful day in Kansas, Tyler Reddick took the victory and cemented his place in the final 12. Joey Logano might not have won but his two-tyre strategy paid off in the sense that he finished in fifth, 11 places above where he was when the caution fell.

Despite not winning, Logano wasn’t exactly disappointed. He knew that he would not stand a chance against Reddick with his tire strategy. His tire gamble was never to win the race. It was to finish high up the pack, which he promptly did.

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Despite Missing Out on Win, Logano’s Gamble Paid Off

In the post-race interview, the #22 driver revealed his strategy and confirmed that the race win was never on his or his crew’s mind. “I mean he was coming about 20 miles an hour faster. So it’s either block him and get wrecked. I wasn’t gonna be able to stop him. And I wasn’t going to beat him anyway.

“Even if I did slow down the 45, he’s just gonna beat me in the next corner. So the only car I could beat was Jones. So I decided to race him and honestly just let him let the 45 go. I couldn’t do much about it anyway,” Logano said.

There was nothing Logano could have done about Reddick, but his decision to go for a two-tire strategy just to gain 11 positions was a stroke of genius. It’s no wonder that he is the defending champion.

While Tyler Reddick has booked his place in the round of 12, Logano currently sits in 11th place, 12 points ahead of the cutline. He can’t afford a DNF next week at Bristol. If the Team Penske driver has a clean race and finishes in a decent position, he should be able to make it through to the next round.

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