Born in Milford, New York, Paul Wolfe’s journey into NASCAR began at age 11, when he started racing go-karts. Raised in a family with a strong mechanical background, Wolfe’s early exposure to racing came from watching his father, Charlie, compete in Modifieds at local tracks. His passion for racing led him to pursue a career in the sport, transitioning from a driver to a crew chief. Wolfe’s technical expertise and strategic acumen have made him a respected figure in the NASCAR community, and now, also popularly known for his “Big Ball Paul” move.

What is “Big Ball Paul”?

When the checkered flag fell at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2024, Joey Logano vaulted into Victory Lane and promptly crowned his crew chief with an unforgettable new nickname. In a post-race interview, Logano laughed, saying, “We call him ‘Big Ball Paul’ now.” It was a tongue-in-cheek praise for Wolfe’s bold strategy.

The move was as follows: After a caution for Ty Gibbs’ spin on Lap 193, No. 22 crew chief Wolfe had Logano conserve just enough fuel over the final 69-lap run to surge past Daniel Suárez and hold off dominant Christopher Bell to net the group’s 3rd win of 2024, and 2nd on fuel mileage.

Logano later credited Wolfe with a “great call” and noted, “Everybody does a good job feeding me the info I needed. You have to go the right pace to make sure you get in front of the No. 99 but not get to where the No. 20 was going to catch me. Just an incredible day.”

He added, “It takes the whole team to do the fuel-mileage stuff. It’s not just the engineer, or the driver, or the spotter, it takes all of us together to do it. Total team win. We may not have been the fastest car today, but we were a solid top-five car and were able to maximize it at the end.” 

That daring Vegas play established Wolfe’s legend, but it was far from a one-off gamble; it was the latest chapter of a season-long trend of fearless strategy.

The Vegas gambit

At the South Point 400, while most frontrunners pitted for fuel under green, Logano was among a small contingent that stayed out and tried to stretch his fuel to the finish.

“Honestly, when the caution came out there, we didn’t really feel like it was a gamble based off of where we were,” Wolfe said. “I was actually surprised. We heard guys talking about that they were maybe going to split, but I didn’t realize the majority was thinking that because, like I said, we had talked through this scenario pre-race, and we stuck to what we thought and what we knew, and it worked for us.”

Logano held off a charging Bell to win on fumes, running the last 72+ laps on one tank. It was a textbook fuel-mileage finish and instantly made Wolfe a folk hero in Las Vegas and in Team Penske. Just like that Las Vegas fuel gamble, Wolfe had taken similar risks with equally dramatic results.

Nashville’s marathon overtime

Wolfe’s penchant for stretching fuel showed up months earlier at Nashville Superspeedway. In June, the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 required a record five overtimes to finish. During those final laps, Wolfe again told Logano to stay out instead of pitting. The No. 22 Ford Mustang ran a staggering 110 laps on a single fuel fill-up.

When competitors ran dry, Logano inherited the lead and held on for the win, his first of 2024 and a last-second ticket into the playoffs. Afterward, Wolfe recalled, “We just got to the point. … we’ve gotten this far, let’s just stick with it.”

His confidence underlined the daring mindset that would later earn him the “Big Ball Paul” moniker. Nashville was a proof of concept. By October, Wolfe had made these fuel gambles a signature move for Team Penske, turning underdog gambits into must-watch drama.

Penske’s culture of big calls

Wolfe isn’t the only one praising such a risky strategy. NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick noted on his Happy Hour podcast that in playoff scenarios, “you’ve got to make the big calls,” exactly what Wolfe did by running the fuel mileage to the end.

Indeed, each of Logano’s 3 wins in 2024 (Nashville, Atlanta, and Vegas) came from stretching fuel rather than sheer speed. As Logano acknowledged in Vegas, these wins were a “total team win,” with all drivers, engineers, and spotters working together to nurse the car home.

It’s a hallmark of Team Penske‘s ethos. Loyalty and trust allow crew chiefs to roll the dice when it matters most. With every calculated risk paying off, Wolfe’s legend is only growing as the 2025 playoffs reach their climax.

Joey Logano’s high-stakes playoff push

Joey Logano’s 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff journey has been a testament to resilience and strategic brilliance. After a challenging start to the season, with several finishes outside the top 20, Logano found himself in a precarious position heading into the playoffs. However, his performance at Texas Motor Speedway turned the tide, securing a crucial victory and providing a significant boost to his playoff hopes.

Despite this, he entered the Round of 8 trailing the cutline by 24 points, again with the genius of Paul Wolfe, whose gamble to have Logano pit for newer tires than high-leverage rival Ross Chastain with 11 laps remaining at the Roval paid huge dividends.

Reflecting on the race, Wolfe referenced race manipulation allegations against him, saying, “I think when you look at some of those situations, though, talking about not passing somebody, at what point, when all those guys behind them were catching them over a second faster per lap, are we going to start manipulating races?”

Now, as the playoffs progress, his ability to adapt and his team’s unwavering support will be crucial in determining his path to the Championship 4. But will Paul Wolfe be able to pull off another Las Vegas miracle this year?