Joey Logano is the name on everyone’s lips right now. The Penske driver finished 20th but managed to scrape together 20 crucial points, keeping him just above the water and crucially ahead of Ross Chastain, beating him to the championship race. Heading into the final lap, Logano and Chastain were virtually tied on points, with Logano holding the all-important tiebreaker. Though he eventually squeaked through and made it thanks to Chastain’s last-lap run-in with Denny Hamlin, Dale Jr. now sounds off on his chances ahead.

Now, a formidable threat looms for the rest of the Round of 8 field: Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, and Chase Briscoe. Logano starts the next round at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sitting at the pack’s bottom, but his knack for clutch performances is undeniable; 40.5% of his Cup wins have come in the playoffs.

Dale Jr feels Logano needs to do something different

On the Dale Jr Download podcast, Dale Jr. sat with TJ Majors and broke it down, ” But yeah, Joey’s going to have to do some creative things and Paul’s(crew chief) going to be doing the opposite probably at some point to try to get a win…He’s going to put Joey up there in the top five at some point on a disadvantage and say, ‘Joey, I need you to hang on here.’ And Joey’s going to get the caution 15 laps later and they’re all going to come up road and next thing you know, up on tires. Yeah. Well, he’s just going to be do something different. He’s got to at this point, I think.”

That strategy paid off at Charlotte. With 11 laps remaining in the race, Paul Wolfe opted to bring Joey Logano into the pits for fresh tires, a move that was both bold and calculated. At that point, Joey was running 13th, and the decision to pit it was a gamble that could either pay off handsomely or backfire. However, Wolfe’s foresight paid dividends, as the fresh tires allowed Logano to gain positions and beat Chastain, while others struggled with tire wear.

As the race neared its conclusion, the Penske driver found himself in a tense battle with Ross Chastain for the final playoff spot. Chastain, desperate to advance, made a last-ditch effort to defend Logano’s chase. In the ensuing chaos, Chastain made contact with Denny Hamlin, spinning both cars and eliminating himself from contention. And TJ Majors confirms that the NASCAR community will see more of these tactics as they head to the final four races of the 2025 season.

But Dale Jr. immediately followed that up with a, “Yeah. I mean, anybody could get in there. Any of these 8. And then we’ll go to Phoenix.”

It’s clear Dale Jr. isn’t fully sold on Logano’s championship chances, noting that he would need some creative strategy, along with the lady luck that’s been on his side, to overcome disadvantages. Still, he admits any of the eight contenders could make it to the finale, keeping Logano’s hopes alive but uncertain.

Junior has also expressed his annoyance at the defending champion’s support for the current playoff system. Post-race, Logano had said, “The playoffs create drama; they create storylines. They create awesome moments like that. I don’t understand what people don’t like about it. I really don’t get it.”

And that was enough to set Dale Jr. off. The NASCAR Hall of Famer has been an avid supporter of the return of the 36-race-style championship format, and this comment doesn’t make Joey Logano Dale Jr.’s favorite.

Despite Logano getting booed by the crowd and the NASCAR community thrashing his support for the current playoffs, one NASCAR veteran does believe that Logano is the man to watch as the garage gears up for the finale at Phoenix.

Kyle Petty plays white knight for Joey Logano amid brewing playoff hate

Kyle Petty has fired a blunt warning at NASCAR Cup Series championship hopefuls after playoff driver Joey Logano scraped through the Round of 12 by the thinnest of margins. The defending Cup champ barely survived Charlotte this past weekend as Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Austin Cindric were knocked out in NASCAR’s final road course showdown, won by the new road course master Shane van Gisbergen.

Kyle Petty has reason to sound the alarm for Logano’s seven remaining rivals. He said, “I’m just going to say it, everybody’s going to have to. You want to race against weaker teams. You don’t want to race against guys like Joey Logano. He will bite you, and I’m going to tell you, it’s everybody’s worst nightmare going to Phoenix right after Halloween. Joey Logano is going to be there.”

Team Penske’s dominance has remained unbroken since the Next Gen’s debut in 2022. Logano has claimed titles in 2022 and 2024, while Ryan Blaney won in 2023. Even though Joey has not been as prolific as he hoped—2024 saw him record the lowest average finish ever for a Cup champion— he thrives in the high-stakes playoff environment.