Joey Logano still appears to be everything a championship driver ought to be (at least on paper). He has a big-race background, multiple titles, and a talent for turning up when it counts most. However, when you look at the outcomes from both the previous and current seasons, a new picture begins to take shape. The weekly pace hasn’t always been matched by the victories. And now, as the questions grow louder, the focus is moving from Logano to Team Penske.

It’s not a Joey Logano problem

“I believe in Joey Logano. I’m not saying its a Logano problem necessarily. Logano’s fine. If you put him in a Gibbs car, he’s going to be up front and doing things. It’s more of a Penske issue as a whole.”

Jordan Bianchi’s statement essentially sums up Joey Logano’s current situation. His 2026 figures don’t appear to be that impressive. Logano is now ranked 17th in the standings after 11 races without a victory and just two top-five finishes. That is undoubtedly concerning for a driver with his background.

However, when you zoom out, the challenges don’t feel isolated. There is a similar tendency throughout Team Penske. Ryan Blaney has had some success (three top-fives and a victory). However, even his season hasn’t been as dominant on a weekly basis as you would anticipate from a great team. Then there’s Austin Cindric, who has just one top-five finish and is presently in about 15th place in points. Competitive? Indeed. Constantly intimidating? Not exactly.

And that’s where the true problem is. Penske vehicles aren’t very slow. Simply put, they no longer dictate races as they once did. There are brief bursts of speed, times when one of their drivers appears capable of victory, but those bursts seldom combine to form long sustained runs.

It almost feels like a step back to an earlier era, where the team could contend on certain tracks but struggled to maintain elite consistency across the calendar. That’s a far cry from the standard Penske set during its peak years. That context is important to Joey Logano. Because while his results might suggest a dip, the bigger issue appears to be structural.

Texas chaos deepens Logano’s frustrations

The race at Texas Motor Speedway demonstrated how rapidly things can fall apart for Joey Logano in the moment, even if the larger picture suggests a team-wide problem. During a frantic sequence in Stage 2, Logano slammed into the back of Cole Custer after the No. 41 car suddenly checked up in front of him. Teams choosing two-tire stops caused a bottleneck where cars were racing into and out of stalls with little room for mistake, leaving the entire field in a state of chaos.

“Everyone was trying to get two tires, and the whole field is passing you because the pit stops are so fast on two tires. He just checked up in front of me, stopped, and you’re trying to look and try to get up out of the way, and it just stopped. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t stop in time,” Logano explained afterward.

Reaction time is just insufficient in situations like this one. What exacerbated it? It wasn’t even his first near-miss. Joey Logano had only barely evaded William Byron’s spinning car moments before, demonstrating how erratic the race had become. The turmoil was further highlighted by the odd knockouts of other competitors, such as Christopher Bell.

However, the damage was fatal for Logano. His race was essentially over, adding yet another sad outcome to a season that has already been lackluster. And that’s what’s frustrating. It’s not always a lack of speed. However, it’s a combination of poor breaks, chaotic circumstances, and a team that simply can’t seem to catch a clean race from beginning to end.