While breaking down the fierce duel that took place between Ross Chastain and Joey Logano at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Kyle Petty issued a warning. Logano’s advancement spells trouble for the rest of the title contenders.
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At the Roval, Logano and Chastain were contending for the final spot in the Round of 8. However, in the final stages of the race, Denny Hamlin passed Chastain, forcing him to race hard to regain the position and qualify. Eventually, a desperate Chastain, struggling for grip at that point, crashed into Hamlin while trying to overtake, ending both their races. And, Logano qualified for the next round of the playoffs.
Petty noted that while Hamlin and Logano have reached the Round of 8 stage of the playoffs fourteen and 10 times respectively, both have made it to the Championship 4 six times. But Hamlin has yet to seal the title. Logano, on the other hand, has turned half of those runs into three championships.
Petty emphasized that Hamlin knows exactly what lies ahead. To win it all, he’ll have to go through Logano, a man who has built his reputation on rising when it matters most.
Last year, Logano squeezed into the Round of 8 by luck but quickly turned fortune into firepower. He won at Las Vegas to pin his spot in the final four before capturing the title at Phoenix. That history is precisely what Petty believes makes Logano every contender’s biggest headache.
“Denny Hamlin’s worst nightmare happened [when Logano qualified for the Round of 8]. Hamlin is gonna have to go through Joey Logano. Everybody is gonna have to. You wanna race against weaker teams. You don’t wanna race against guys like Joey Logano,” said Petty.
“He will bite you, and I am gonna tell you, it’s everybody’s worst nightmare, going to Phoenix right after Halloween- Joey Logano is going to be there… Paul Wolfe made a call yesterday; he deserves the award. Those guys were in the playoffs, and he took themselves out to [the] pit and put on tires,” he elaborated.
“And that paid off. Because Joey had run down Ross Chastain at the end of the race again. It played out exactly like Paul Wolfe thought… And all these guys, they went home from Charlotte… Phew! Now I gotta go through Joey Logano again,” added the NASCAR veteran.
Leaving the door open for the No. 22 team could prove costly for those in the title hunt. While Hamlin admitted after the race that he wished he had known the points battle between Chastain and Logano, so that he could have made a better decision toward the end of the race. The reality, after all, is that every competitor hopes someone else takes Logano out before he gets too close to the trophy.
This is nothing new for the 35-year-old, who continues to flex his muscles as one of NASCAR’s most complete drivers. Despite ranking seventh in Passing Rating and 10th in Speed Rating, Logano stands atop NASCAR Insights’ leaderboard as the sport’s best defender. Give him track position, through raw pace or a perfectly timed pit call, and he’ll slam the door shut on anyone behind him.
That is exactly what makes the No. 22 team so dangerous in the postseason. Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile. With wins already at Las Vegas, Talladega, Martinsville, and Phoenix, Logano has proven himself time and again when it matters.
Fans at Charlotte knew it, too. They voiced their frustration with a chorus of boos, but Logano couldn’t have cared less. With his ticket to the Round of 8 punched, he grinned through the noise. The sweet taste of survival drowned out the jeers echoing across the grandstands.
