Joey Logano was battling near the front at Talladega, just five laps from the finish, when his No. 22 Ford was caught in a major wreck. The three-time Cup Series champion walked away, but the hardest part came afterward, when he realized his family had no way of knowing he was okay.
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“I kept trying to connect my radios back to say, ‘Hey, I’m okay.’ But nobody knew I was ok because the in-car camera went out; everything went out when I flipped. They’re all thinking the worst. I got back to the bus, and all my kids were crying, and I was like, Dad’s okay. I’m good,” Joey Logano recalled on Will Buxton’s SPEED podcast.
For Logano, the most painful part of the Talladega wreck came after his car stopped moving. He had survived a frightening rollover, but the damage to his communication equipment and the in-car camera left his wife, Brittany, and his team without confirmation that he was safe. His spotter, Coleman Pressley, repeatedly assured him that no approaching car would hit him, but Logano could not respond. By the time he returned to his motorhome, the fear had followed him home.
With about five laps remaining in the YellaWood 500, Logano was running in the outside lane behind Ross Chastain, with Carson Hocevar pushing his No. 22 Ford. Contact unsettled the Penske driver, sending him into the outside wall. Chase Briscoe then struck the front of Logano’s car, launching it into the air and turning it upside down. The Ford slid along its roof for nearly 20 seconds before coming to a stop near Turn 1.
Inside the car, Logano initially recognized what was happening but became increasingly uneasy as the ride continued. He described the moment when the noise stopped and he realized he was sitting upside down. He also questioned whether he could get out if the situation became more dangerous.
Fortunately, NASCAR’s safety crew reached him quickly. Officials spoke to Logano through the window, confirmed that a fire extinguisher was ready, and carefully turned the car upright. He eventually climbed out under his own power.
“Yeah, just happy to be alive,” Logano said after the incident.
The driver also credited improvements to NASCAR’s safety standards. His previous Talladega rollover in April 2021 had left the roof structure pressed dangerously close to his helmet. This time, he said, the car’s protective structure appeared to hold up much better, with nothing seeming to cave in or crush around him. NASCAR’s Next Gen car incorporates structural and aerodynamic safety features designed to absorb impacts and reduce the likelihood of a car lifting off the ground.
The timing made the moment especially emotional. Just days before the race, Logano and Brittany had announced the adoption of two children they had previously fostered, bringing their family to seven: the couple, their three biological children, and the two newly adopted children.
After the wreck, Logano returned to his motorhome and found his children crying. His immediate priority was no longer the lost race or the damage to his Ford. He needed to reassure them that their father was safe.
Riley Herbst was also involved in the same wreck. Leaked 23XI Racing radio suggested his team was eager for updates on how quickly help would reach him, though the radio alone does not show how NASCAR sequenced its response.
Logano left Talladega grateful to be unharmed and impressed by the safety crew’s response. His account showed that getting out of a crash is only part of the story, since for a few anxious minutes, the people waiting for him had no answers.