It’s not easy living with regrets. Just ask Joey Logano, who has seen multiple Cup Series championships slip through his fingers in the last ten years. The Team Penske driver is a two-time winner but could have doubled his tally, particularly in 2016 and 2020, when he finished the season second and third, respectively. The 34-year-old has another opportunity to lift the elusive Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway this year, a chance he will want to take with both hands in the final race of the ongoing season.

The No. 22 Ford Mustang driver has had a long and illustrious career at NASCAR’s highest level. However, that hasn’t stopped him from reflecting on the opportunities that got away, which is what he did ahead of the penultimate Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Logano regrets squandering championship opportunities

Joey Logano is somewhat of an enigma, isn’t he? The Team Penske driver has secured just three wins in the Cup Series this season but somehow finds himself in contention for his third title at Phoenix Raceway. The 34-year-old knows how to win when it matters the most, with all three victories coming at just the right time to keep his title hopes alive. Moreover, ever since the elimination format was introduced, the Connecticut native has been a part of the Championship 4 in every even year. Surely, it can’t be a coincidence.

When asked by FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass about whether he focuses on his championship wins rather than defeats, Joey Logano replied, “Both. Both go through my mind constantly. Some of them just sting, right? They sting forever. I look at it and you go, ‘Gosh, you’re a two-time champion, that’s great.’ Every time someone says that I go, ‘Should have four’. Gosh, we were in position to really do it, like we were right there. Should I have four? One little thing changes should be four of them.”

Having made six Championship 4 appearances already, Joey Logano has plenty of experience with heartbreaks, failures, and triumphs in the final race of the season. The Team Penske driver isn’t underestimating the situation he is in this time around, as he has a unique opportunity to secure his third Cup Series title at Phoenix Raceway. Sharing his views about the race, the Team Penske driver said, “It’s the championship. It’s the biggest race you’ll ever be a part of.”

However, standing in his way will be one more playoff fixture at Martinsville Speedway. While the outcome of the 2024 Xfinity 500 will have no direct consequence for Joey Logano, it will decide two other competitors that he will race against for the title. As things stand, Tyler Reddick is the only other driver who is locked in for Championship 4 which means two more drivers will be eligible to compete for the silverware in the final race of the season. Could Logano finally go all the way and make history at ‘the desert oddball’? Time will tell.

Joey Logano reflects on previous Championship 4 appearances

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It’s fair to say that Team Penske has dominated the Next-Gen era ever since the new cars were introduced in 2022. They have won back-to-back championships in the last two years, with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney entering Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway. Going into this year’s iteration of the final race of the season, all eyes will be on the No. 22 Ford Mustang driver, who could potentially make it three in a row for Roger Penske’s side.

Taking a trip down memory lane to his previous championship race appearances, Logano told Fox Sports, “I always felt like when you look at 2018, we had so much speed that year that really helped. But also, I think just the confidence that you carry is so important. And I felt like we had that in 2020, and we really did everything we should have done to win in ’20. We just had this one screwy set of tires that will forever haunt me, that shook the car and all that.”

However, despite the lows that Joey Logano faced in 2020, he also enjoyed equally uplifting highs, particularly two years ago when he went on to secure his second Cup Series title. Recalling that race, the 34-year-old said, “But 2022, we brought the same confidence and that was it. We knew how to go out there and win. And we did it.” Having finished 28th at Homestead-Miami, the Connecticut native will hope for a better result at Martinsville so that he has momentum on his side going into Phoenix Raceway.