The three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano has a mission on his hands. He must prove to the world that he did not win the 2024 championship by sheer luck, and the best way to do that is by defending his title. Sadly for him, the first step that he took at Darlington on Sunday towards this mission wasn’t very sure-footed.
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Logano started the Cook Out Southern 500 in 14th place and finished 20th after a mediocre performance. Speaking to the press in the aftermath, he expressed his surprise over how the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse was uncharacteristically tough to handle.
He said, “We just didn’t go fast. Just couldn’t get a handle on the car. Either the front was plowing or the rear was loose, and sometimes I had both at the same time. It’s not what we were expecting.”
Darlington has been one of Logano’s better tracks in the past. His previous results alone gave enough reason to believe that he might secure a top-10 result at worst. But what transpired was a shocker. It appears to have left everyone in the No. 22 camp confused.
Following the result, the driver is now three points below the Round of 12 elimination line. The next two races of the Round of 16 will be at World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
Logano has a good finish rate and a win at Gateway. So that is still something to boost his morale. Moreover, the character to squeeze through to further playoff rounds in the last possible minute runs deep in Team Penske’s DNA.
Logano defends the current playoff format
Following Logano’s triumph in the 2024 Cup Series season, there were huge calls for the playoff format to be altered, and NASCAR promised that it would look into things. Discussions for the same are still ongoing with no guarantee that change will come.
In the meantime, several icons, including Mark Martin, have become the torchbearers for the cause. They want the current format, which leaves a lot to chance, to be gone at any cost.
It is at this juncture that Logano has come out and defended the system, taking on the risk of angering the fandom. He said in an interview with Jeff Gluck recently, “If you scored a bunch of points during a regular season and you didn’t make the Championship 4, shame on you.
“You had a head start, and you still couldn’t do it. Don’t say it’s not legit. You could have gone out there and won to get in. You didn’t.”
Logano‘s defense was a challenge to drivers to step up in the big moments. At the same time, it can be construed as the attempts of a man who became champion under faulty rules.
