The NASCAR Cup Series will get the second round of the playoffs underway in Kansas this weekend. The 1.5-mile intermediate track has played host to multiple memorable moments over the past years. But one rivalry — between Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth — from 2015 stands apart from them all. Here’s a narrative of what transpired at the Sunflower State nearly a decade back.
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It was the second race of the 2015 Cup Series Round of 12. Logano had won the earlier race in Charlotte and fixed himself a spot in the Round of 8. Kenseth, on the other hand, had a huge points deficit to overcome after facing issues with his car in Charlotte. After the green flag waved in Kansas, Kenseth displayed exemplary speed and went on to lead 153 laps throughout the race.
He appeared to be in control and poised to win he encountered a battle with 5 laps to go. Logano went to his outside in an attempt to pass him. Kenseth moved in front of his No. 22 Mustang to block. Logano made contact with the No. 20 car and spun it before cruising ahead to take the race win for himself. The sequence left the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran fuming in anger and rightly so.
The spin that he took was extremely dangerous and could’ve easily ended up being fatal. He told the press afterward, “I’m one of the only guys that I think hasn’t been into it yet with Joey, and I’ve always raced him with a ton of respect. I’ve actually been one of his biggest fans. I’m certainly not anymore, but I always was. It’s a shame…” Logano, however, did not express any regret.
He’d only done what was required of him to collect the win. But the story wasn’t over yet. A few weeks later, when the field traveled to Martinsville, Kenseth got his payback. He was racing a lap down and Logano was the leader — with a Championship 4 spot to gain. The veteran used the chance to inflict pain and wreck hard into Logano to end his hopes of winning the title.
Both their cars were damaged in the process and Kenseth was fined heavily for intentional wrecking. Logano vented out to the media that what happened in Kansas was different because that was just hard racing.
He said, “Here it was just a complete coward move, especially for a championship race car driver and race team. Just a complete coward.” Needless to say, little did Kenseth care.
Joey Logano’s tangle with Matt Kenseth at Kansas in 2015 led to an intentional wreck a few weeks later.
The Penske driver revealed what he’d change from that day. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/OJFflIVgQh
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 25, 2024
Revisiting the Kansas incident after all these years, Logano affirms that he wouldn’t change anything that he did. But he did note to NASCAR that he should’ve reached out to Kenseth and cleared the air so that the “payback” incident in Martinsville never had to have happened. And that’s one of the best stories to look back at ahead of the 2024 playoff race at the track.
