After wrecking out in stage two at the Pocono Raceway last weekend, Team Penske’s #22 driver, Joey Logano, earned his 4th DNF of the 2023 season. Disappointed with the events at Pocono, ‘Sliced Bread’ looked forward to turning his luck around at the Cook Out 400 Cup Series race at Richmond.

Starting from the 23rd spot on the grid, Logano finished in fourth place at Richmond Raceway. Although his performance at Richmond was fabulous, a post-race interview with the Team Penske star saw him joining hands with Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

Joey Logano becomes the latest victim of Denny Hamlin

Donning the villain cape at Pocono Raceway last weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin faced the wrath of the NASCAR community. First blamed for Alex Bowman’s final stage spin-out, Hamlin then ran Kyle Larson into the outside wall in an attempt to secure the lead. Having already tangoed with Chase Elliott and William Byron during the first half of the 2023 season, Hamlin’s Pocono actions caused the HMS drivers to band up, declaring war on the #11 JGR driver.

Missing out on the opportunity to secure a 3rd place finish due to Denny Hamlin at Richmond, Joey Logano has now sided with the Hendrick Motorsports drivers’ stance.

While he was speaking to media personnel in Pit Road at Richmond, Logano was asked what allowed him to contend for the top spots during the final laps of the race.

He answered, “We weren’t that bad with the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. Just a little bit off from the best cars. Really couldn’t hang. If you put us at fifth, we could probably hang at fifth. Just qualifying as poorly as we did, slowly getting our way up there, a couple setbacks during the race, kind of made us hang around 7th and 10th place range for a little bit.”

He further added, “I knew we just had to get there. Paul [Wolfe] did a good job. Must have been a special set of tires. I don’t know. It fired off pretty good. Was able to roll the outside of two lanes there.”

Joining hands with the Hendrick Motorsports drivers, Logano said, “What Denny screwed up and slid up, got me down the middle, maybe this is okay. Then I allowed the 8 [Kyle Busch] to get back to the outside. We gave up a spot there. I saw him. I got excited. I was like, I’m also there. One more caution. It wasn’t fun (smiling).”

With Logano speaking out against the JGR #11 driver, let’s take a look at the final lap events that caused the Team Penske star to join hands with his HMS counterparts.

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The whole kerfuffle that cost Joey Logano a potential win

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During the final laps of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond, Denny Hamlin was fighting to snatch the lead with RFK Racing’s #17 Chris Buescher. Lagging behind in the first stage, and placing 10th in the second in stage two, Joey Logano had moved up to the 7th spot with four laps remaining. Holding the outside line, Logano then passed Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Preece to secure the 3rd spot. 

While Buescher pulled ahead, Denny Hamlin locked his front left tire while braking, causing him to drive up the racetrack. With Denny Hamlin’s #11 Toyota on the outside, Logano was forced to drive down. This left the outside lane empty for Kyle Busch, who capitalized on the opportunity to overtake Logano.

While Chris Buescher drove down Richmond’s Victory Lane, Denny Hamlin secured the runners-up position, followed by Kyle Busch in third. Missing out on a top 3 finish owing to Denny Hamlin’s antics, Joey Logano placed fourth at the 2023 Cook Out 400.

“It’s a Broken System” – Team Penske Star Driver Joey Logano Slams Down NASCARs Incompetence at Dealing With Problems

Do you think Joey Logano’s comments were justified? Let us know in the comments.