Team Penske star and 2X Cup Series champion Joey Logano is yet to seal a spot in the 2024 playoffs with just eight more races to go in the regular season. Though riding a rare career low, he isn’t letting the pressure get into his mind yet. He spoke to reporters ahead of the race at the Nashville Superspeedway and broke down his thoughts.
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Logano currently sits 14th on the points table and is 13 points above the playoff elimination line. While he sure does wish that he had won a race now and already begun focusing on winning the championship, he hasn’t forgotten the task at hand. He said, “Not exactly the place we want to be but still got time. And obviously, we’re in, right now.”
“It’s just real close. Closer than we’d like to be and you know with the the mix of races coming up you could have a surprise winner in there or something. Could change it up a lot. So, we have just got to be able to move ourselves up on points.” Immediately next to Logano in the playoff race is 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.
If Logano can muster up a victory lane visit in the coming weeks, the issue will be solved straightforwardly. Otherwise, he will have to depend on performing on a consistent level across all eight races and hope that there aren’t too many new winners. What helps a veteran like him coast through such heated times is the experience of racing in the premier tier for so long.
How being a 2X Cup Series champion helps Joey Logano tackle pressure
Thanks to winning the championship twice, Logano and his team know how to handle such situations expertly. He admitted that the accomplishments and the learnings do help overcome any feelings of panic and keep a cool head. “Like I said, I wish at this point we were locked in,” he said. “But we also are a team that knows how to handle that pressure and know how to be there.”
“And a lot of times we get better throughout the playoffs. So, we just got to get ourselves there first.” The next step that he takes towards that goal is at the Music City on Sunday. He has secured two top-10 finishes over three appearances at the 1.33-mile oval and will be hoping for a career-best performance.
