The NASCAR Cup Series currently has a couple of superspeedway venues in the playoffs – Atlanta and Talladega for the drivers to contest on and Joey Logano is seemingly not a fan. The two-time Cup Series champion understands that superspeedway races are just a part of NASCAR including different types of tracks in the playoffs.
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However, superspeedway racing is highly unpredictable and that’s not what a driver trying to win a championship wants to have during crucial times such as the postseason. Speaking to the media ahead of the Southern 500, Logano made his thoughts clear about the matter.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is a good example of this. The Team Penske star was running in P6 with just 16 laps to go. It seemed like he had enough pace to fight for the win towards the end.
My Dark Horse Mustang was ready to run last night in the #CokeZeroSugar400. We proved it could lead and push all night long, as shown by qualifying P3, finishing P2 in Stage 1 and winning Stage 2. Unfortunately, another superspeedway multi car wreck robbed us of a stellar finish.… pic.twitter.com/2HZqR3YUnn
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) August 25, 2024
However, a massive wreck took him out, along with several other drivers. It caused a DNF for the #22 team, a frustrating result so close to the playoffs. This can happen very easily at tracks like Atlanta and Talladega as well and can take deserving drivers out of the race for the championship.
“I’m honestly not a huge fan of superspeedways in the playoffs,” he said. “I mean, look at last week. I mean, just things could be going well and then everyone ends up in a wad. And you say look at the last 20 of them. Okay, they all look the same. Guys run up front, have a chance to win, all of a sudden they’re in the infield center and you guys are talking to us there. It just happens over and over and over again.”
Logano has only one race win so far this season. He might have qualified for the playoffs but with only five playoff points in the bag, he might not go too deep if he does not run well in the next few races. Superspeedways could prove to be his undoing, regardless of whether it is Atlanta or Talladega.
Logano predicts Daytona’s fate in playoff superspeedway races
If put in a situation like Daytona once again, the Team Penske star acknowledged that there was not much he could have done differently. Yes, the odds of him suffering the same fate aren’t a lot but you can never be sure. The veteran race car driver will have to make sure that he performs well in the other playoff races so that a superspeedway DNF doesn’t put him in danger of getting eliminated.
“I don’t really know how to handle that better and it will happen again when we go to Talladega. The same things are going to happen when we go to Atlanta possibly. Maybe not Atlanta as much as a wild card, but it still can be. We have seen some big wrecks there recently. So yeah, it is interesting,” Logano added.
Team Penske drivers have won the last two Cup Series championships titles and they would very much like to continue that trend. Logano is gunning for his third championship which will further solidify his place as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time.
