Joey Logano became a three-time Cup Series champion when he reached Victory Lane in the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. While it was an incredible achievement and a huge moment of joy, slight melancholic cues filled the air, singing tunes about how it should have been his fourth championship. The story behind this emotion goes back to 2014.
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Logano was one of the four drivers who made it to the Championship 4 that year. He was incredibly fast in his Ford Fusion and kept working his way to the front of the pack despite multiple hurdles on pit road. But he received a massive blow to his chances during his final pitstop of the day, which came after the 11th caution of the 267-lap race.
On lap 249, each Championship 4 driver opted for a different strategy. Denny Hamlin stayed out, Ryan Newman went for two fresh tires, and Kevin Harvick changed all four tires. Logano’s crew made a mistake that cost them everything. The jack that had to lift the Ford car wasn’t placed properly, and it ended up slipping before fresh tires could be put on.
It cost them precious time, and the driver had to sit motionless in his car as the rest of the field zipped past him. Footage of the error was shown to Logano during a recent interview with Real Mechanic Stuff. He told the host that he still remembers the day like it was yesterday and went on to detail what had transpired exactly.
Logano said, “We come down pit road in contention to win the race right there. Final pit stop. Right sides go up, change tires, everything’s good. Come the left side, get the jack under the jack post, but it didn’t really get underneath the jack post like it needed to get it up.
“So, it got only on the edge. So, when he jacked it up, it came up. They pulled the tires off and it was just enough that it fell down with no tires on it. We watched our championship go away at that moment.”
Back then, Logano was nowhere close to being the mature person he is today. Despite the disappointment, he did not blame any one particular crew member for costing him a championship. He does not do so now either.
Logano continued, “It stung for everybody, right? Not just the driver and crew chief but the pit crew. I mean, it was a hard moment post race.” Fortunately, the No. 22 Team Penske group is far past that tough moment now.
