The ‘Big One’ was inevitable.

Talladega Superspeedway has a reputation for high-speed, multi-car wrecks on the 2.66-mile oval and the 2024 YellaWood 500 lived up to that expectation. Joey Logano, who is battling for the championship qualified in sixth place, but couldn’t maintain his track position in the second Round of 12 race. The Team Penske driver won the opening postseason fixture at Atlanta Motor Speedway but has struggled since then and was forced to retire on Lap 183 due to an on-track incident.

Despite being in the elimination cutline after finishing the race in 33rd place, the Team Penske driver refused to blame Brad Keselowski, whose contact with Austin Cindric resulted in the biggest wreck in NASCAR history.

Joey Logano’s title hopes are hanging by a thread

Going into the race, there was an underlying expectation that multi-car wrecks at Talladega weren’t just a possibility but an unavoidable outcome. However, nobody would have predicted the level of chaos that took place in the closing stages. It all began when Brad Keselowski nudged Cindric’s No. 2 Ford Mustang, sending the Team Penske driver spinning across the racetrack. What followed was somewhat of a chain reaction, as Cindric collided with his teammate Joey Logano while Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, and Chase Elliott were also caught in the wreck.

In the post-race interview, Joey Logano refused to pin the blame on RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, who finished runner-up. The Team Penske driver said, “Everyone gets more aggressive at the end of the races. The #2 got out there a little bit more than what he has been and #21 gave me a shove and transferred that to the #6. It got to the #2, fair amount of steam there. It was not his fault, it was not Brad’s fault. It was not anybody’s fault. Just a product of racing. It was getting more and more aggressive as the laps went down. It happens.”

Logano’s 33rd-place finish was a major blow to his championship hopes. It was his worst result since the postseason began and puts the Connecticut native in a precarious position going into the final Round of 12 race at the Charlotte Roval. Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs in next Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 and as things stand, Joey Logano is ninth in the driver standings, 13 points behind the elimination cutline.

Unlike other tracks, superspeedway racing brings with it a whole different set of challenges. Drivers found it difficult to make passes because of too much drag, as switching lanes became difficult. As a result, everyone got stuck together, which meant the slightest bit of contact between two drivers could have disastrous consequences for everyone surrounding them. That’s exactly what happened. Taking these factors into account, it’s not surprising to see that Joey Logano isn’t blaming Brad Keselowski for the carnage that took place on the track.

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Brad Keselowski echoes Logano’s sentiments

It was a heartbreaking result for Brad Keselowski. The RFK Racing co-owner and river finished just 0.006 seconds behind race-winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr at the 2024 YellaWood 500, despite both drivers being involved in the multi-car incident. Even though the 28-car wreck began when Keselowski made contact with Austin Cindric, the racing veteran believes that nobody was at fault for the incident. The 40-year-old was racing for nothing but pride at the 2.66-mile oval after failing to progress past the Round of 16.

Highlighting that Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland blocked the bottom lane which began a chain reaction, Keselowski said, “Something happened to the #38 car where we were lapping him, I don’t know what and he stayed on the bottom lane and blocked it. When he blocked the bottom lane with all the Fords in it, it caused us all to react. And we stretched it and it’s rubber band, so we stretched rubber band and it snapped back down the back stretch. You know I caught the #2 (Austin Cindric) car, checked up a little bit. The #22 (Joey Logano) came hit me, then all three of us kind of ran into each other. I don’t really think Austin or Joey did anything wrong. I don’t know what I could do any different, just kind of how it goes.”

With five races remaining before the 2024 Cup Series ends, Brad Keselowski will hope to end his season on a high. His runner-up finish at Talladega Superspeedway was the RFK Racing driver’s best result in 16 races and the veteran will look to build on the momentum going forward. While Keselowski doesn’t have the best record at the Charlotte Oval, the pressure has been lifted off his shoulders and he can race without the expectation of needing a result. If his No. 6 Ford can replicate the speed from Talladega, there is no reason why Keselowski couldn’t make it to Victory Lane at the Bank of America ROVAL 400.