Surely not being able to finish inside the top five or top-10 hurts, but being the runner-up stings a lot more than that. As they say, second place is the first loser. This time, the driver who felt that sting was the multi-time Cup Series champion, Joey Logano.
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Indeed, his start to the current season was abysmal, and considering that, a P2 finish is something to celebrate. However, just the fact that Logano was so close to winning and yet, so far from it, just bothered the #22 driver like nothing else.
“It feels good, and it doesn’t at the same time,” he admitted. “It feels good to be in contention to win the race, it hurts to be that close and not capitalize on it. Paul (Wolfe) gave me a great car, everyone did a great job preparing this Pennzoil Mustang. Gave me something that I can win with if we can get to the lead.”
With the dawn of the NextGen machine, the field has become incredibly well balanced, and therefore, everything needs to go according to plan in order to win a race. Acknowledging that bitter truth, Logano said, “Everything has got to click at the same time to win and we just didn’t quite get it.” Nevertheless, he does consider his performance as something he can build on in the weeks to come.
Logano referred to his run at Richmond as a momentum-builder
Till Saturday, Logano’s 2024 stint was highlighted by a pair of DNFs and a season-best P9 finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Needless to say, that’s not the start that a former Cup Series champion expects. Thankfully, Richmond feels like the start of something good for the Pennzoil-sponsored athlete.
“This is definitely the hardest start to a season we’ve had,” he said. “Last week we started scratching and clawing and got a little bit of momentum through the last three races and ultimately get to here to where we were in the hunt again.”
Although it wasn’t a win, it was needed for the Ford team. “It feels good. It’s Richmond. It’s a unique race track. It’s our best race track as a team, so we expect to run good here. I don’t know if this completely takes us out of the deep end, but I think ultimately it’s a good momentum-builder for sure,” he added with confidence.
But how will it translate as NASCAR prepares to roll out on Martinsville next week? The wait has already begun.
