“I Think I Had Him Beat”: Joey Logano Laments Home Race Loss to Martin Truex Jr. in New Hampshire

Winning at one’s home racetrack seems to be a dream for every racing driver. As drivers headed onto the rain-delayed New Hampshire Motor Speedway race, Logano dialed himself into the competition in his bid to grab the lobster. After the final caution with just 14 laps to go, Logano did make places, but could not advance further than second place. It was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. who dominated till the checkered flag dropped.

Following the race, Logano explained how they just did not have enough to pass the JGR car with the remaining number of laps., most of which came down to tire strategy.

Joey Logano laments on not being able to pass Truex Jr. for the win

Despite running up the order with a really good pace at hand, the Team Penske driver just could not get past Truex Jr., who had been in a league of his own for the entire duration of the race. After the race, Logano mentioned, “Not enough of them to beat the No. 19. They were fast. Gosh, I thought I had a shot to beat him right before the first caution after we put tires on – so two cautions to the end.”

“I had a chance to roll to his outside there, right before the caution came out. That would have been my chance – if I got in front of him, I think I had him beat. But you have to get in front of him. He just seemed to refire better the next two runs. He didn’t refire on new tires that well, but the next two, he refired pretty quickly.”

Logano feels hurt after finishing second at his home racetrack

Ahead of the race, Logano spoke about how he really cherished this race track, considering this was the very place where he scored his first-ever win in the Cup Series. He also touched upon how he used to come down to NHMS when he was younger to watch the races and even met Jeff Gordon once. Therefore, when he finished in second place behind Truex Jr. despite having the pace for a win, he felt hurt not being able to win.

“It’s just when you’re at your home racetrack, second hurts; more than anywhere else,” Logano said. “There is no place where I want to win more than here and came up one spot short. That one stings, but overall, I guess you still have to say it was a good day.”

Win or no win, Logano would be relatively comfortable considering he already has a win to his name this season, securing him for the upcoming post-season.