During his recent discussion with Claire B. Lank, Joey Logano touched on appearing as the underdog this season, having advanced to the Round of 8 not by sheer performance but due to a technical disqualification of Alex Bowman’s car. Despite this, Logano remains quietly confident about his team’s capabilities to make a significant push for the championship four.
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Reflecting on parallels with 2018, the year he clinched his first championship, Logano remarked on the similarities between then and now. Back in 2018, he was considered an underdog, a narrative he feels resonates with his current campaign.
Speaking to a journalist from SiriusXM NASCAR, Logano recalled, “Look at 2018 when we won our first championship, it was the big three in me. I remember it had harvick and Kyle Busch and Truex and they all won like five-six races throughout the year we won two. And what happened? We won it, right? So it doesn’t matter that much,” he explained.
🏁 "In a way, I feel like we have nothing to lose."
After making his way into the Round of 8 via the No. 48 DQ, @joeylogano feels "pretty confident" in the speed his @Team_Penske No. 22 team is bringing to the track every week.
More → https://t.co/keYsFmunJW pic.twitter.com/N3QoQtXIfz
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) October 18, 2024
Logano’s victory marked his third of the season, yet he spent much of the year in the shadows of titans like Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch, who collectively won 20 races. Coming off a challenging 2017 where he finished 17th in the series standings and missed the playoff cut, Logano’s triumph in 2018 was historic.
No driver since the modern era began in 1972 had ever bounced back from finishing worse than 13th the previous season to win the championship the following year. While Logano now acknowledges he was the underdog that season, he maintained a different stance during the championship’s climactic week in 2018.
Back then, he consistently dismissed the notion of being called an underdog in the championship race.
Logano radiates confidence in his team’s potential
Despite sliding into the playoffs through a stroke of luck at Charlotte, in his recent discussion with Lang, he underscored his team’s growth and confidence about not being an underdog.
He noted, “We’ve been steadily getting better in improving throughout the season to where we are now. I feel confident in the speed we have in our car. […] This week we also had this weekend at the Rival pretty solid to me to where we’re a championship 4 caliber race team.”
Looking ahead to the climactic race at Phoenix, Logano acknowledges the unpredictability, stating that it’s anyone’s game among the top 4 drivers.
For now, his sights are set on the next three races, aiming to leverage every chance to excel. With only an 11-point deficit, Logano seemed optimistic about his team’s prospects of securing a spot in the final four through consistent performances.
