Even after Team Penske took another step forward on the intermediate tracks at Las Vegas, Joey Logano is not convinced that the organization has championship-winning pace yet. The No. 22 Ford driver finished 10th at the South Point 400, but his own assessment of the performance was quite blunt.
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“Overall, 10th. Not good enough to win championships,” Logano told Kelly Crandall after the race, in a post-race clip shared on X.
However, that blunt comment was followed by a more optimistic assessment of his championship situation, as he added, “We’re in the hunt, so we’re still alive.”
These comments pretty much sum up where Logano and Team Penske stand with five races left in the Chase. The team is improving at the 1.5-mile tracks, but Logano still does not believe the gains have turned Penske into a clear championship threat.
The biggest problem for Logano at Las Vegas was that his No.22 Ford simply didn’t have everything he needed.
“It’s just kind of pick your poison: do you want the short run to be faster or the long run? I couldn’t have both,” Logano explained.
The result? He was left with a car that was improving compared with Penske’s earlier struggles at intermediate tracks, but it was still not good enough to challenge for the win.
“As a whole, they’re closer. We’re closer,” Logano said. “I say ‘they’ because the 2 and the 12 are a little faster on these ones. We had signs of hope today and got up there.”
Why do Logano’s sentiments hold so much weight right now? Because Team Penske entered the Kansas-Las Vegas-Charlotte stretch with serious questions about its intermediate-track performance. Two races into that run, the results have thankfully shown clear signs of progress.
Interestingly, Kelly Crandall also spoke to Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney, who sounded more enthusiastic about the improvement.
“I definitely think we’ve made gains, for sure. Very, very pleased with the progress we’ve made from Kansas to here on all of our cars.”
He specifically praised the work on the No. 2, No. 12 and No. 22 cars and said Penske was now running toward the front and contending, even if it was not yet winning races.
“And that’s the first step, for sure,” Blaney added.
This gives Team Penske two different views of the same development. Blaney sees the recent results as proof that the organization is finally moving in the right direction. Logano also agrees that there has been progress, but he also feels that the team needs another step before it can call itself a championship favorite.
That next step will be put to the test at the Charlotte Oval, with which Logano shares some mixed history. Earlier this year, he recovered from a P33 start to finish P8 in the Coca-Cola 600, but his previous results at the track haven’t been as strong. In the Next-Gen era, the P8 finish was his best so far.
That history explains why Logano is not ready to get carried away by Penske’s progress.
There is at least evidence that the team can perform well there. Logano’s P8 finish came after starting 33rd, while Blaney also brought the No. 12 home in the top 10. Hence, Charlotte will provide another opportunity to find out whether that speed can translate into the kind of result Logano needs to keep his title hopes alive.
The timing is particularly important, as the fall Charlotte race marks the return of the oval to the Chase schedule for the first time since 2017.
The urgency behind Logano’s comments also becomes clearer when you look at the standings after Las Vegas. Kyle Larson leads the championship, while Denny Hamlin sits 40 points behind him. Christopher Bell is third, 55 points back, followed by Logano in fourth at 71 points behind Larson. Blaney is fifth, 80 points behind the leader.
This leaves Logano with a significant amount of ground to make up across the final five races.
Las Vegas was particularly frustrating because Larson made the most of his day. The No. 5 Chevrolet struggled badly during the opening run, yet Larson made a brilliant recovery, finishing second behind Chase Briscoe and also increasing his championship advantage.
Meanwhile, Hamlin finished 16th after a mid-race spin damaged his car, while Bell finished 23rd after spending the second half of the race without power steering. As for Logano, he crossed the checkered flag in 10th.
The result itself was commendable, but it was not enough to close the gap. It explains why he can simultaneously believe Penske is improving and remain concerned about its championship pace.
For Logano, the next stage is not simply about continuing to run near the front. He needs that improving intermediate speed to start producing wins and bigger points gains. Thankfully, he hasn’t given up on his championship hopes just yet.
“We’re in the hunt, so we’re still alive,” Logano said.
To sum it up, Team Penske has certainly made progress. Blaney is encouraged by it, and Logano can see it too. But with a gap of 71 points between him and Larson, with just five races left to go, the No. 22 driver knows the improvement has to become something more. Charlotte will be the next opportunity to prove that it can.