Superspeedway racing has changed by leaps and bounds since 2022. The Next Gen car was released, and NASCAR forgot the meaning of speed. As drivers found it increasingly difficult to pass with this car, retaining track position became crucial. And for that purpose, fuel-saving was the only option, leading to driving the cars at 50–60% throttle.

The aggressive fuel strategy of Daytona played out in Talladega as well. Besides eliciting an outcry from fans, veteran drivers like Denny Hamlin also expressed their dismay. Now, Team Penske’s heavyweight driver, Joey Logano, gave his unique take on the debate.

Joey Logano underlines the infallibility of the fuel game

Before the GEICO 500 race was flagged off at Talladega Superspeedway, drivers expected the fuel madness. Ryan Blaney, who was part of the Daytona affair, admitted that he expected the same thing at Talladega. Denny Hamlin was concerned about fans, as fuel-saving tactics are hardly entertaining. Even Joey Logano predicted heightened fuel strategies in the absence of tire wear.

Joey Logano talked about how fuel-saving is a mandatory option. On an episode of Sirius XM NASCAR, the No. 22 driver highlighted the problematic part. “To me, the issue is, you can’t move through the field. You can’t pass cars. And so I was scared to pull out of line because it’s just, like, getting in the wall…like getting in a brick wall, and all of your moves stop.”

Logano also came up with a unique solution. “The fuel mileage game, I don’t know how that goes away. The only way to me that goes away, is if you put a mandatory two-tire stop within the stage. Because then you’re not waiting on fuel anymore…That’s about what it would take if you were wide-open and put two tires on, give or take.”

Joey Logano further emphasized how going wide-open or operating his car at 100% throttle is less significant now. “But going wide open is not more interesting to me. I think the fuel mileage game is more interesting than when they were wide open, in my opinion.” As he shifts gears to sanction the fuel game, he also has a take that diverges from Dale Jr’s thoughts.

Logano rejects the idea of shorter stages

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The fuel problem has more culprits besides the car. Besides the Next Gen’s faults, stages are longer than the distance a car can go on a tank of fuel. Hence, Dale Earnhardt Jr came up with a solution, “To take fuel mileage out of the equation, you need to have the stages short enough so that they can run the entire stage on one tank.”

However, Joey Logano diverged from Dale Jr’s take. After suggesting his own mid-race mandatory pit solution, he said, “That’s the only thing I can come up with without adding stages, and I heard all of the other stuff people talked about. I don’t think you should add stages.”

NASCAR took a deep dive into the problem after the Daytona 500, hence, a viable solution may be on its way soon.