Joey Logano finally caught his breakthrough in 2025 at Texas Motor Speedway, where he parked it in victory Lane after a strong, confident drive in May’s Würth 400. It was a much-needed win not just for points, but for momentum, as Logano had no top-5 finishes before that. Now, with the play-offs looming and his spot in the top 10 of the standings looking solid, Logano is hunting for another checkered flag to lock down his form. But this weekend’s track has historically stood in his way.

Despite 29 Cup starts, Pocono Raceway’s Tricky Triangle has denied a Logano victory for over a decade now, with his only win there coming in 2012. Pocono remains a question mark, and Logano, true to form, isn’t dodging that stat; he’s owning it. He opened up on the challenges NASCAR presents at Pocono and why his record has not been the best.

Joey Logano reflects on the Tricky Triangle

Joey Logano’s 2012 Pocono win was nothing short of legendary. He stormed to pole position and led 49 of 116 laps to win the Pocono 400 on June 10th for Joe Gibbs Racing. Then the 22-year-old sealed the deal with a textbook “bump and run” on veteran Mark Martin with just three laps to go. It was only the second win of his Cup career and a statement moment that silenced early critics, but over a decade later, it remains his lone triumph at the Tricky Triangle.

He has just ten top-10 finishes in 22 races at the track since his 2012 win, leading just 234 laps in the last 13 years at Pocono. In a recent interview with ESPN, Joey doesn’t shy away from breaking down what goes wrong at that track. As Stephen A. Smith gave a rundown of the Team Penske driver’s stats about how Joey only has one win in 29 Cup Series starts in Pocono, Logano laughed it off and then leaned in, saying, “Yeah, I know. Thanks for bringing up that amazing stat; at least there’s one.” 

Still, Joey Logano’s explanation digs deeper; he added, “But you know, NASCAR racing, it’s challenging because it’s not one v one, right? Like, you are going up against 39 other teams. So, you know, for our season—we race 36 times a year—if you can get five or six wins, that’s a pretty decent winning percentage.” His 2025 season stats reflect that consistency: 17 races, one win, four top tens, two top fives, and 302 laps led. This has placed him right at 7th in the standings, formally in playoff territory. While the wins column may not be stacked, Logano knows how to turn it up in the playoffs, like he did in 2024, winning 3 out of the last 10 races en route to the championship.

However, Pocono remains a thorn. Last year, Joey qualified 10th and finished fifth, his first top-10 at the track since a pair of top-10 finishes in 2021, before the track was reduced to one race a season. The No. 22 Team Penske driver even gets tactical while talking about the challenges at the track, saying, “Pocono hasn’t been one of our strongest tracks at the moment, but I feel like last year we finished fifth here, which is not too bad. But it’s a challenging track. It’s actually shaped as a triangle, so it’s not an oval like we typically race on, or a road course, or something like that. It’s a 2.5-mile triangle—every corner is a lot different.”

It’s a masterclass in balancing risk: Turn 1 demands speed and grip, Turn 2 demands stability, and Turn 3 favors momentum. Trying to find a tune, one corner sacrifices another, resulting in mid-pack unpredictability. But as NASCAR’s Pocono race is right around the corner, Logano is determined to put his foot down and finally conquer this track; only time will tell if he manages to do so.

However, before heading to Pocono, Logano had to give his flowers to the fans last weekend in Mexico City.

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Logano becomes Mexico’s unexpected fan favorite

NASCAR’s debut at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a weekend of spectacle and surprise, was brought with hometown hero Daniel Suarez staking his claim in the Xfinity Series. But he wasn’t the only one who stole the spotlight. Joey Logano reveled in the unexpected warmth from the Mexican crowd; thousands of diehard fans greeted the Cup Series debut like a holiday, and the No. 22 Driver wasn’t just noticed, he was celebrated.

Logano goes to tell SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that, “Oh dude, these people are passionate. Like they were diehard NASCAR fans and knew everyone. Like they knew the whole field. Here’s a surprise for everybody: I’m like the second most popular driver in Mexico. [After] Daniel Suarez, I’m a distant second, but I’m second. I didn’t know what to think, guys.”

No. 22 Signs, colors, and cheers, Logano’s sponsor Shell was everywhere, and so was his No. 22. He laughed, admitting he didn’t know how to process the reception, saying, “All this stuff, people love me here! Don’t know why; I love them too. I really didn’t know what to think, I didn’t know how to handle it, it was a very unique situation for me.” But the fan affinity did not translate into race results. Logano qualified ninth and finished 21st at Mexico City after early pit strategy shifts and weather delays stuck him in traffic. Still, he joined others in applauding NASCAR’s leap beyond US soil.

Mexico City delivered a win for exposure, but for Joey, it was more complicated. He found admiration, introspection, and respect flowing from the stands. But until Pocono, another familiar challenge, admits him again into victory lane, he’s got two parallel goals: continue proving global fans already know him and finally crack a 13-year code at his last racetrack nemesis.

Do you think Joey Logano can conquer the Tricky Triangle in 2025? Let us know in the comments!