Unlike Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., or William Byron, who have often dominated races by leading upward of 75% of the laps, Joey Logano has built a reputation as a master of timing. He capitalizes on chaos, flipping the script in the final moments, and that was precisely the case at Texas.
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While others found themselves bouncing over bumps and slamming into barriers, Logano played the long game. He kept his nose clean through the wrecks and seized the lead when it mattered most, despite pacing the field for just seven laps out of 271 and locking in a playoff berth.
It was a win that came against the odds. Logano hadn’t recorded a single top-five finish in the 10 races leading up to Texas. But this win puts him in the hunt to defend his Cup Series title.
Logano’s 2018 title-winning former crew chief, Todd Gordon, reflected on what made Logano’s moves count when it mattered most. He credited the driver’s unmatched vision on restarts.
Gordon said, “He sees it in color that nobody else does. That’s part of what made Joey a three-time champion. He understands what people will do and how he can put them in bad positions… His mental ability is top three in the garage.”
What makes the feat even more remarkable is that just one week earlier, his No. 22 team was disqualified after a post-race inspection revealed two infractions — a missing nut from the bolt securing the brace and a loose fastener. Rather than let that setback derail him, Logano used it as fuel and bounced back with a statement victory.
Logano never lost faith in his team’s potential, maintaining that while results hadn’t shown it, their car had speed in spades. He remained certain that his breakthrough was just around the corner. As he put it, that’s the nature of the sport — where setbacks don’t dictate the future but ignite the fire to bounce back.
Instead of dwelling on disappointment, Logano turns adversity into ammunition. Whenever criticism is thrown his way, he stores it in the back of his mind — and it drives him to silence the doubters.
His long-term partnership with Todd Gordon began in 2013 when Gordon took over crew chief duties for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. The duo clinched the 2018 Cup Series and recorded 25 wins together before parting ways at the end of 2019. Gordon called time on his crew chief career after the 2021 season with Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 car.
Though he never quite lifted the curtain on their full playbook, Logano had hinted at their unique edge. “We do things in a different way than the majority of the field. We do things very differently. Car setups are different. I know our strategies are different. Our approach to a weekend is odd, but we found what works for us,” he once remarked, back in 2017.
Now, with two more titles in his back pocket over the past three seasons, all eyes are on whether Joey Logano can pull off another and add a historic fourth to his legacy.
