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“Gonna Be Tough for the Foreseeable Future” – Joey Logano Painfully Details Lackluster Effort From Ford As the Manufacturer Remains Inconsistent

Published 05/28/2023, 12:43 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

While Chevies and Toyotas reign the top spots in Cup Series races, the remaining other manufacturer has failed to deliver the hype it promised. Ford, the American manufacturer, has had a dull and bland 2023 season so far. With only 1 victory so far in this season, Ford partnered Team Penske‘s ace driver, Joey Logano has revealed the piece of the puzzle that has been causing the inconsistency for the manufacturer.

Ahead of his much-anticipated Coca-Cola 600 run at the iconic Charlotte Motor Speedway, Logano spoke to the media revealing the inner details of the team and their partner’s negligence that has caused the slump.

The 2-time Cup Series champion closely related the carelessness on Ford’s part that seemingly demands the teams to be near perfect throughout the season. The #22 driver also mentioned the dire situation this has put his team in, with the scenario demanding the most out of each team.

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Joey Logano discloses the chink in his team’s armor that has mounted more pressure on the team

Apart from his single win at Atlanta, Ford still is in a dire situation. With the organization bringing in more updates to its race cars owing to the shift to more sophisticated Next-Gen cars, Toyota and Chevrolet have managed to find the sweet spot while Ford is still yet to the party.

During the press conference at Charlotte, ahead of his race, the Penske driver answered a curious reporter that had almost guessed the fault in the Ford camp, as he acknowledged the right path the journalist is on. Logano stated the obvious deterring factor that has the team far from victory.

The 33-year-old driver said, “I think you’re going down the right road to understand what’s going on. Everyone had the ability to adjust their front ends, cooling packages, and we didn’t maximize as well as we needed to. I think that’s the bottom line. There’s no other way around it, so we’re constantly looking for improvements and how we can make our cars better, just like everybody else is, but we’re starting a little bit behind.”

Furthermore, Logano explained the situation perfectly as he reflected on the uncertainty the manufacturer has cast on the team while still being positive about the upcoming race events. He said, “There’s still a long season. There are still plenty of races to win and plenty of time to turn the ship around a little bit. But it’s tough right now. It’s probably gonna be tough for the foreseeable future until we can make some adjustments, but we’re still in the hunt.”

Further down the conversation, the #22 driver also disclosed the dire situation this has the team in. Relying on cent percent accuracy and perfection, the Penske camp has to be quick on their heels to capitalize on any opportunity given their evident chink in the armor being the race car itself.

While Logano keeps a positive attitude, the driver also discloses the terrible situation the team is in!

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Indeed, the Ford camp is having a tough time this season. According to the points table, Chevrolet is leading the manufacturer’s table with 8 wins while the Japanese manufacturing giant, Toyota, has 4 wins so far this season. The numbers also indicate the sharp difference between the two American manufacturers with Chevy close to 500 points while Ford amassed 438.

via Getty

With the significant error on their partner’s part, Logano also elaborated on the pressure this puts on the whole team. Despite disclosing the dire situation the team is in, Logano said, “When I look at the races that we’re executing perfectly from a car setup perspective, pit road perspective, strategy, restarts, if we nail all of those, we can win. If we miss one of those, we can’t win. So that’s just what it’s come down to right now is we have to strive for perfection, which we do anyway, but it really matters now in how we execute.

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WATCH THIS STORY: What makes the Coca-Cola 600 so special? 

Despite being in such a tight space, the 2-time champ is still optimistic about 2023. While the Chevies are dominating the track with Kyle Larson winning the last race at NWB. It is certainly high time the Fords live up to their reputation. Coca-Cola 600 is certain to be an exciting race.

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Written by:

Kishore R

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Kishore is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. With a degree in engineering, Kishore's love for automobiles, particularly the roaring naturally-aspirated V8s, naturally led him to NASCAR. Kishore's writing is characterized by his intense passion for the sport, as well as his ability to conduct in-depth research and analysis.
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Edited by:

Akash Pandhare