Why Joey Logano knew 2022 was going to be a NASCAR playoff season even before the first race
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Racing Ford in NASCAR's Cup Series, often wears a wide smile that reflects through his dark eyes. These days, that smile is careful and calculated.
There are three races remaining before the 2022 championship is settled at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6, and he doesn’t want to do or say anything to jinx his chances.
Having won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Logano became the first driver to advance to NASCAR’s Championship Final Four. The Middletown, Connecticut, native won the Cup Series title in 2018 and hopes for a second-career championship trophy three weeks from now. His closest quests for NASCAR’s big prize have come every other year since 2014.
“I know. It's every other year,” Logano said after his win at Las Vegas. “At least we were in it in 2022. I hope we're in it in 2023, but it seems like it's been every other year for the last five years, five times. I guess that's an OK average. I wish it was every year. Maybe that's the greed in myself. But I think overall, yeah, it feels good to be able to get into victory lane and race for a championship when we get to Phoenix for sure.”
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Logano and his team led by crew chief Paul Wolfe began the season with a victory in the special non-points event at the Los Angeles Coliseum. That victory set the stage for a season of success that has produced three wins, 10 top fives, 15 top 10s, and three pole positions.
Wolfe made the Championship 4 with Brad Keselowski at Team Penske in 2017 and Logano in 2020. He had plenty of experience with the pressures that come in the final races of the season while in position to win it all. This time, the entire dynamic of the sport is different with a race car that everyone seems to love and hate all at the same time.
“There are a lot of just the unknowns with this new car,” Wolfe said. “We're trying to learn throughout the year and develop it. There's just a lot of unknowns … and the way the playoffs have kind of gone so far. In years past, you felt like you've had to win races to advance and really run top five, but we've seen a lot of guys have issues and trouble, some of their own doing, some not.”
Logano has shown great confidence through the 33 of 36 races completed this season. Each time the playoff period of the year begins, he and his Team Penske crew are there as consistent challengers for the Cup Series championship.
“I feel like we've had a good shot every year in all the races,” Logano said. “I feel like we've done a great job as a team executing the playoffs and getting to the Round of Eight, now to the Championship 4. We've done a good job getting there, now it's just down to one race, and Phoenix is one of our best racetracks, it's one of Paul's best racetracks by history, and we'll hopefully bring a really fast Mustang out there. “
Logano can’t cruise in the next two races but some of the pressure to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway is off. He will most certainly strive to win at those tracks to send the message that he is with the strongest team when the green flag drops at Phoenix.
“We've got a few weeks to think about it, which is nice,” Logano said. “We will be able to focus in. I've lived this story before, winning at Martinsville and being able to give yourself a bit of an advantage when you get to Phoenix when that's all you think about for the next couple weeks when everybody else is fighting tooth and nail to get in. We're able to really focus in on the one race that counts for us now. (I’m) super proud of this race team and everybody for giving me the opportunity as a driver to go out there and do my job.”
Logano is quick to point out that he isn’t the only part of the equation that should be congratulated if a championship comes his way. There’s an army of people behind him on the road as well as at the mammoth shops in Mooresville, North Carolina, owned by motorsports icon Roger Penske. Each of them put their hearts and souls into making Team Penske a winning organization, as they do for teammate Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Team Penske Fords in the Cup Series.
“I don't think it's just a clutch driver. It's a clutch team,” Logano said. “Everybody raises their game. That's what the playoffs are — I love the playoffs. It's just the attitude that we bring to the table as a team is that you love this part of the year because you have the opportunity to just do something great and ultimately win the goal that you set back in February, to win the championship."
TV info for Sunday's race
Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, 2:30 p.m. (NBC)
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Joey Logano in NASCAR Final 4, can relax at Homestead, Martinsville
