Home

NASCAR

35-Race Winless Joey Logano Shows Mental Resilience Despite “Freakin’ Miserable” Phase in the NASCAR Cup Series

Published 03/15/2024, 12:15 AM EDT

Follow Us

USA Today via Reuters

Without a doubt, Joey Logano has not had a good start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series. With just one finish in the top ten in the first four races, there is surely more room to improve for the Team Penske driver. However, the bigger concern is that the #22 driver is stuck in a long, winless run without any signs of positivity lately.

Let’s not forget that Joey Logano has two Cup Series championships to his name. Having started over 500 races in the competition, he is well-versed in the ups and downs of the competition. Because of this experience, the 33-year-old driver is confident about coming out strongly from his struggling phase.

How is Joey Logano dealing with an almost winless year in the Cup Series?

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

It is no secret that Joey Logano is still a fierce and capable competitor. Having said that, his last win in the NASCAR Cup Series came at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2023. It has now been 35 races since he last registered a victory, and it is only understandable if people are worried about him.

Recently, Kevin Harvick raised his concerns about Joey Logano in his podcast. While the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver may be right, his perspective comes from Logano’s recent outing. In three of his four races, the #22 driver has ended up in a crash and finished P28 or lower.

While it is not even close to Logano’s standards, things have to change drastically for him. Currently, he sits at 30 in the point standings and is 35 points behind the playoff cutoff. However, he looked quite positive when he recently spoke to the media. It is not the first time that Logano has had the need to bounce back from a tough phase.

As reported by NASCAR.com, Logano said, “I mean, it helps you in these moments mentally when you know you can do it, right? If you’re earlier in your career and you haven’t gone through many things like this before, you wonder if you’re ever going to win again.”

Joey Logano is currently in his 16th full-time Cup Series season. No wonder why he looked confident about successfully bouncing back. He said, “But when you’ve done it for — what am I, 15, 16 years in now — I’ve been through the cycle a few times. I know that we will get out of it.”

 

The Connecticut-born driver further added, I know it’s not easy, and don’t get me wrong, it’s not fun. It’s freakin’ miserable, but it is what it is, and you just kind of keep fighting and you come out the other end. You stick with the habits and keep going.”

While Logano believes he has it in him to turn it around, he provides an in-depth idea of how things have been so far.

2024 is the toughest start to a Cup Series season he has ever had

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest NASCAR stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

It is not just his P30 position that is concerning for Joey Logano. The Team Penske driver stands exactly 100 points behind his teammate and defending champion, Ryan Blaney. Not only that, with Blaney currently leading the standings, it is more concerning what’s going wrong with Logano.

Interestingly, the #22 driver shared some of it with the media. He said, “It’s definitely the toughest start of a season I’ve ever had. Some of it, out of our control; some of it, in our control, but we just haven’t scored the points. The superspeedways, Atlanta, our cars were really fast. Vegas, we were mediocre. Last week was a struggle.”

Logano added, “With that said, the way the races are these days, you can pick that car up, put it fifth, and it’ll probably run fifth. Just we didn’t qualify good enough and stay up there and get up there. And then we got caught up in that crash there with John Hunter. So, just one of those things.”

 

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

While Logano knows what hasn’t worked, he has full faith in himself and his team. He said, “This is the same team that’s won two championships, the team that knows how to do it. Paul (Wolfe, No. 22 crew chief) knows. We all know, we don’t really have to talk about it a whole bunch. We kind of know the situation, we know who we are, we know we can fight out of it. So, just keep on digging.”

Definitely, these words must help motivate Logano’s fans. However, an impressive run at Bristol Motor Speedway will immensely help change the feel around his camp and fanbase. After all, Logano has two wins at the track, and despite his poor form, he remains a strong candidate to win it on Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Priyank Mithani

451Articles

One take at a time

Priyank Mithani is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. He specializes in writing analytical and opinionated stories for the division, providing his readers with a unique perspective. Not only does he keep his readers up to date with the lives of NASCAR Drivers like Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr, but he has often been the first to report on several on-track incidents.
Show More>

Edited by:

Shivali Nathta