Joey Logano has tremendous confidence in his No. 22 team. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – While most of the focus was on the Hendrick Motorsports duel between Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, Team Penske’s Joey Logano put on a great performance in Watkins Glen International.
Moreover, he showcased some road course prowess despite starting 20th in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen. In fact, he seemed to have a fast No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.
As the race ensued with evolving track conditions from wet to dry, Logano climbed his way up to sixth in Stage 1. Consider that a warmup act as the 32-year-old Middletown, Connecticut native made some noise in Stage 2.
With Larson and Elliott opting for a two stop strategy, Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe elected for a more conventional approach with their pit stops. Such tactics and a fast car propelled the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion to the lead on Lap 28.
Notably, Logano netted the Stage 2 win, his fourth stage victory of the year.
Although Logano may have lacked the pace prevalent with Larson, Elliott and Michael McDowell, his Ford Performance cohort, he kept his nose clean during the race’s wild restarts.
Showcasing some of his cool, veteran experience, the leading Team Penske racer maximized in a very competitive, action packed race.
Taking a podium finish, or a third, when all was said and done, Logano made it clear he fought for his third victory of 2022.
That said, he followed NFL coaching great Bill Belichick’s advice – do your job.
“I’m always going to try to win the race. That’s my job. That’s why we’ve got Shell/Pennzoil’s colors on the car,” Logano said after the race.
A third place result has to somewhat feel like a victory for Logano as he and his Cup competitors head to Daytona next Saturday night for the regular season finale (7 p.m. ET on NBC).
Despite locking his Playoff spot with teammate Austin Cindric, undoubtedly, Logano will work with his other ally, Ryan Blaney, to ensure he’s battling in the postseason chase.
Perhaps Logano may be an emerging road course warrior. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
“So as far as my goal, obviously, with superspeedway racing, you have to work with your teammates and obviously, I’m gonna work with the 12,” he shared.
In the meantime, Logano, like his competitors, contended with a myriad of challenges during Sunday’s changing conditions. Specifically, he dealt with a bit of visibility issues from the spray off the cars from a drying but somewhat soaked track.
“It was hard to see. The vision issue might be worse than what the old car was,” he recalled. “The tire is wider. I think it sprays more. It’s a product of this bigger tire. So you’re gonna have that, but we survived.”
Likewise, Logano appreciated the NASCAR officials electing to start the race when it was safe to do so versus a possible repeat of last year’s inaugural Cup race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Suffice to say, he echoed the sentiments of the NBC NASCAR personalities prior to the race’s official start.
“I’m glad we didn’t start the race when we rolled out the first time. I couldn’t see in the caution. So this is going to be a really bad deal if we went green,” he remarked.
All told, much like Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen, Logano knows he can be a contender ahead of this year’s Playoffs. Pursuing his second Cup title, he may be in the mix against the heavyweight favorites like Larson and Elliott.
“Yeah, I feel really good about the Playoffs right now,” Logano said with an earnest confidence. “Just the execution of our race team is why I feel that way. Everyone’s firing on all eight on really good days of the last month on the racetrack. So, everyone’s doing their job like they’re supposed to.”
Perhaps he can echo some of the scrappy energy from Jeff Gordon’s 2015 Playoffs run, a year in which resourcefulness meant as much as raw speed and dominance on the track.
“We need to get faster, there is no doubt,” he quipped. “We weren’t a threat to win today. We had decent speed, decent enough to win a stage. But we need to be faster. But if we maximize races, we can get by with the speed we have.”
Editor’s Notes
Nathan Solomon contributed to this feature directly on-site from Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.
