Just like when it looked like Joey Logano was back on track, the Team Penske driver got decked with a penalty. After a rather abysmal 2023 campaign that saw the 2-time champion crash out in the very first playoff, Logano had high hopes for 2024, and it certainly was so when the driver captured the pole in NASCAR’s “Great American Race” at Daytona.

While the driver showcased speed and precision during the qualifying, the race was nothing like that. In fact, Joey Logano fell victim to ‘Big One’ at the end, crashing out and finishing the race at P32. Looking to best the Daytona disappointment, Logano headed out to Atlanta with a cheeky trick up his sleeve, hoping that it’d give him an advantage at the mile-and-a-half track.

Unfortunately, things fell apart as what was supposed to get him the momentum ended up taking it away from the #22 driver, getting him a stiff penalty from NASCAR. Reacting to the sanctioning body’s two-fold penalty, former teammate Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace acquitted the veteran, essentially saying what he did was trivial, a Mickey Mouse trick in the grand scheme of things.

Former Penske teammate acquits Joey Logano after Atlanta’s ‘webbed glow’ row

In racing every second, every second matters. Last week’s Ambetter Health 400 was a perfect example of this. Logano in his #22 Ford might’ve aimed at something similar when he wore a webbed glove at Atlanta and was seen placing his plan near the window sill to reduce drag.

Drivers will sometimes alternate between placing their hand in the gap ahead of the net and onto the net itself to not only prevent that air from entering the car but also attempt to deflect some of it off the side of the car. This helps the air avoid the large spoiler on the back of the car. Many drivers make use of this leeway, but when Joey Logano used a modified glove for it, NASCAR stepped in and slammed the driver. The Penske driver was sent to the rear of the field and required to serve a pass-through penalty. Following the race, NASCAR also fined him a hefty sum of $10,000.

Reflecting on the Atlanta glove row, fellow drivers including 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and #6 driver Keselowski reacted to the debacle. Wallace said, “Small potatoes, really I mean, I’ve been you know, my hand up without webbed gloves and it isn’t an advantage. You’re trying to minimize very small things like you know you got to these speedway races, there’s wind like, hope that you get in the right direction and a webbed glove isn’t going to do much. I thought it was very small potatoes.”

Likewise, the RFK Racing co-owner, Brad Keselowski also dismissed the narrative that Joey Logano was actually cheating, saying, “To be honest, I don’t think there’s a lot of performance there. I think a lot of times as drivers you get caught up doing things so that the team feels like everybody is all in whether they matter or not and probably yeah that falls on that category.” 

Larson also takes a sly dig at Logano’s glove row

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With NASCAR sending the driver back to the rear after his qualifying run and slapping a hefty penalty the following week, fellow drivers keyed in with their takes. While Keselowski and Wallace resorted to snubbing his penalty, essentially saying that a modified glove doesn’t have any significance in the grand scheme of things, Kyle Larson took a sly dig at Logano, subtly mocking him.

The HMS driver said, “I look at it and kind of laugh a little bit and like, it was a good idea. Obviously, I dont think they would’ve done anything, it’s like a big penalty or whatever from it so cos it probably doesn’t do that much, see I think yeah it was kind of funny.” Adding insult to injury, he revealed what might be a bigger embarrassment to Joey  Logano, mentioning how most of the field was laughing about it, mocking the 2-time champion. 

He added, “He got lucky that the caution at the beginning of the race kind of helped him but yeah, I’m sure he was just more annoyed than rather anything last Sunday with all the drivers making jokes about his gloves. “

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