Team Penske gets into the top of their game when it comes to tackling playoff pressure. While their regular-season form can be hit or miss, the moment the postseason rolls around, the Penske camp flips the switch. Year after year, their drivers find a way, either through raw pace or by capitalizing on others’ missteps, to keep their championship hopes alive.
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And once they do, stopping them becomes a tall order. Joey Logano recently pulled back the curtain on what drives that transformation. Speaking about the team’s uncanny ability to rise to the occasion and their unconventional route to the Round of 8 this season, after seizing on Ross Chastain’s last-lap crash, Logano said:
“I think I got a really strong team. I think Paul Wolf makes the right calls at the right times. He proved that again this weekend. I don’t think there’s anyone on the racetrack that calls a better race than Paul Wolf. And I’m the guy that gets to drive his car. I think that helps.”
Logano credits much of his success to his chemistry with crew chief Paul Wolfe and their ability to execute under fire. According to the No. 22 driver, Wolfe often puts him in high-pressure, dicey situations with aggressive calls, and it’s up to him to make them stick. So far, that partnership has paid dividends more often than not.
He added, “We’ve done a good job at handling the big time pressure moments, which that’s what playoffs do in any sport you watch. The playoffs are going to put drivers in or the athlete in general in these high pressure moments. And not everybody is made out for it.”
“I hate to say it that way… There’s certain athletes that have those big pressure moments. They say, ‘Give me the ball. I want to be there. I want to take the shot.’ And then there’s others that are like, ‘I don’t know.'”
Logano drew parallels to clutch moments in other sports, pointing out that some competitors rise to the challenge while others fold under the heat. Or some might have the attitude of ‘give me the ball,’ but they can’t finish the job, they can’t, they can’t make the shot.
He emphasized that in NASCAR’s playoff environment, the pressure trickles down to everyone, from the driver to the pit crew to the engineers back at the shop, and so on.
At the end of the day, Logano believes Penske’s edge lies in the mental toughness of the people around him. Surrounded by individuals who thrive under the gun, he says, makes all the difference when the pressure to perform or go home is really high.
