Joey Logano has always been a strong contender at the Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway, right from his early days in the Cup car. He and his rival Kyle Busch are the only drivers to have snagged podium finishes in the first two Cup races at this Illinois oval. This time around, too, the Team Penske driver managed a P5 finish, but he didn’t seem too thrilled with his finish.
Out of all the drivers within the team, Logano’s car ended up trailing the pack. Even though Ryan Blaney finished way back at P24, his issue was simply running out of fuel. Logano, on the other hand, was battling it out, trying to crack into the top three but just couldn’t find the right groove.
The only thing on Joey Logano’s mind is a Victory Lane
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Fresh off his All-Star Race victory, Joey Logano led the pack in practice, with defending NASCAR Cup Series champ Ryan Blaney hot on his heels in second. Austin Cindric wasn’t far behind either, ranking sixth in speed overall and showing strong consistency with second place in the 10-lap and fourth in the 15-lap runs. Team Penske started the NASCAR weekend at Gateway, looking pretty much unstoppable.
For Logano, who’s had a tough season with Ford, Gateway shaped up as this year’s make-or-break race. The pressure was on for the two-time Cup Series champion and his manufacturer to pull off a win. But despite starting from P12 and making modest climbs to P9 in Stage 1, P6 in Stage 2, and finally P5, it was his poorest finish at this track. Considering his previous outcomes at Gateway were first and third in 2022 and 2023, respectively, it’s clear that past success doesn’t always roll over.
Moreover, if not for Ryan Blaney’s fuel mishap, Logano would have trailed all other Team Penske drivers. He seemed a bit downbeat in his post-race interview with Frontstretch, admitting, “It was okay it’s a little free most of the day. Couldn’t quite get the back of the car into the race track but I’m overall proud of the team good strategy good execution and just not quite enough.” But despite the disappointment, Logano didn’t hold back on praising his team, noting, “Yeah definitely a hard race to call uh crew chiefs did a good job, Paul did a good job maximizing the day for sure.”
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Yet, looking ahead, excitement seems to be building for the #22 team as the next few races approach, tracks where Logano traditionally performs well.
The #22 team is setting their sights on snagging a win in the coming weekends
Post-Gateway, the Cup Series will roll into a freshly repaved Sonoma Raceway, then zip over to Iowa Speedway, a venue where the #22 team is eyeing some strong showings. Next up is New Hampshire, where Logano has racked up top-five finishes in three of the last four races, even snagging second place last season.
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“The next four weeks or so line up pretty good for the #22, we just have to capitalize on that. We don’t have any mulligans left at this point with where we are in points. We need to rack up as many points as we can, and nabbing a win wouldn’t hurt,” Logano pointed out.
Heading into Sonoma and New Hampshire, Joey Logano has an average finish of 12.9 and 14.1 respectively. Do you think these next few tracks could be where Logano clinches a win? If so, what adjustments do you think the #22 and Ford need to pull off to make that happen?