Team Penske’s Underwhelming Championship Prospect Dives Into the Difficult Predicament He Finds Himself in Halfway Through the Season

It’s no secret that Joey Logano is one of the most talented drivers in the Cup Series. From becoming the 2009 Cup Series Rookie of the Year to being named one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers of all time, the #22 Penske driver isn’t usually considered capable of missing the playoffs.

However, Lady Luck just hasn’t favored the 34-year-old Middletown native this season. For the first two races of the 2024 season, Joey Logano started on the front row with the #22 Mustang Darkhorse. But in both races, late wrecks ended in heartbreak for Logano, who otherwise looked likely to bring home wins at Daytona and Atlanta.

Fast-forward to the season’s halfway point, and Logano has yet to bring home a win that can propel him into the playoffs. However, as things stand, Logano could miss out as he sits 17th in the standings. Fortunately, the #22 driver believes not being locked into the playoffs gives him an unconventional edge over the competition.

Joey Logano believes that the playoff uncertainty could work in his favor

For a two-time Cup Series champion, not being locked into the playoffs is a big deal. Compared to 11 top-five finishes and 17 top-ten finishes in 2023, Logano seems to be on the back foot this year. With 19 races checked off, the #22 driver has only managed to finish within the top five twice and has five top-tens. That being said, the uncertainty of his playoff position has lit a fire within the #22 driver. Going over how his approach to racing has changed owing to his tough spot, Logano revealed a silver lining to it all.

The Penske star shared during the pre-race conference at New Hampshire, “It doesn’t really change much, it honestly puts you in playoffs mode a little bit sooner, because you’re racing as if you’re in the playoffs right, you’re not kind of clicked into where you’re already in and you’re just racing to get playoff points anywhere you can. You can’t take as big of risks on certain things, because you can’t afford last week to blow a tire. You can’t afford to do it, right?”

According to Logano, not having a guaranteed spot in playoffs means a driver needs to be more calculated with risks. Instead of sitting back and relaxing like the 2024 winners with a guaranteed spot, Logano aims to tread carefully. He further stated, “So it adjusts some of your setup choices, some of the way you drive, some of the way you call the race in general. It goes through your mind, it has to go through your mind. At the same time, you still know what a win is worth, so you’ve gotta go out there and win a race.”

However, Logano also points out that his uncertainty in the playoffs means heroics are out of the question. After all, all it takes is one missed opportunity for the competition to pull ahead in the standings. Unlike drivers like Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, Logano cannot afford to make maneuvers that will end up in the #22 losing further ground. Naturally, this means not having a playoff spot locked in adds another level of pressure for Logano to overcome.

The #22 driver concluded, “You definitely gotta play it smart and not be in a caution-to-the-wind type situation, whereas if you were locked in, you would go for that, right? If there was an opportunity to win the race or finish 20th, versus the call that may be a solid fifth-place finish, you probably can’t afford to finish 20th right now. Some of those things just gotta go through your mind.”

However, it would not be fair to say that the entire onus for the downward performance is on Logano.

Logano paints a realistic picture of the #22 Penske garage’s story so far this season

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While Joey Logano seems to be struggling this season compared to his JGR, HMS, and RCR counterparts, it isn’t all up to the #22 driver. Across Roger Penske‘s squad, there seems to be a downward trend in results this season. With Ryan Blaney 90 points behind the leader and Austin Cindric lagging behind a staggering 264 points, Team Penske definitely has a part to play in Logano’s mediocrity.

Going over their performance so far this season, Joey Logano shared a realistic outlook on Penske’s form this season; “I’d say for us, we’re obviously not where we want to be. We just talked about not being locked into the playoffs, at this point. You kind of expect to be locked into the playoffs for the #22 team right? But to put a grade on it, I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to do. It depends on the weekends and it honestly depends on the type of track.”

Fortunately, Joey Logano believes that the Penske Fords are getting better on short tracks. However, intermediates are another story. The #22 driver shared; “You’ve looked at short tracks here recently, it’s hard to not say we’re pretty comfortable and feel pretty good about our chances of winning at short tracks. The mile-and-a-half’s, don’t quite feel that way yet. Lots of work to do there, so probably depends on the track.” 

With Joey Logano finding the #22 Mustang Darkhorse still having issues on intermediate circuits, do you think Logano can break through into the playoffs at Nashville Superspeedway?