Joey Logano is back in the playoffs. Now he has a chance to do the funniest thing

New York Times

05-05-2025

FORT WORTH, Texas — Joey Logano, to borrow from the social media phrase, has a chance to do the funniest thing of all time.
The man who has irritated and irked so many NASCAR fans not just by the way he races, but by the way he wins — particularly championships — is back in the playoffs after Sunday's victory at Texas Motor Speedway.
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And that's dangerous for everyone else, because it's apparent now if you give Logano and his No. 22 team even the slightest sniff of an opening, they'll blow through it like the Kool-Aid Man.
For many NASCAR fans, that's not an 'Oh yeahhhh' but a big 'Oh noooooo.' Logano has won his races and championships fair and square, except in an unconventional manner that reflects how he can never be counted out.
Last season, of course, Logano squeaked his way into the playoffs by virtue of a near-inexplicable, five-overtime victory at Nashville where he somehow saved more fuel than seemed possible.
Then, once in the playoffs, Logano was eliminated after Round 2; only to find himself restored into the field once another driver, Alex Bowman, had his finish disqualified following his advancement.
Logano then made it into the championship race by winning at Las Vegas, when he caught a perfectly-timed caution to thwart the dominant car's strategy and allow his team to use an alternate tactic to win.
He then won the Cup Series trophy with one of the worst statistical seasons ever for a NASCAR champion, a title that sent many fans into a tizzy.
Logano followed his championship by becoming the first defending champion to be held without a top-five finish in the first 10 races of the season — which his detractors used as further justification for their criticism.
Except on Sunday, Logano then went out and won a battle of attrition by surviving a caution-filled Texas race and only taking the lead for the first time with four laps to go in regulation.
As he hounded Michael McDowell for the lead, Logano spotter Coleman Pressley radioed to his driver: 'Everyone wants Joey in the car in this situation.'
And he's right. In late-race, pressure situations, who do you trust the most to end up in victory lane? Logano followed through on his spotter's remark moments later when he made a gutsy, bold move on McDowell — who had tried playing a game of chicken by driving Logano all the way down to the apron in an attempt to defend the lead.
McDowell didn't think he could go any lower without being reckless or unsafe. Logano didn't blink.
A driver in @joeylogano who will make any move necessary to win. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/HQdUyHtn35
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 5, 2025
'Really, really sketchy, but felt like I had to make that move, and it was worth the risk,' Logano said.
It's somewhat ironic Logano won the week before Kansas Speedway, which this weekend marks the first anniversary of NASCAR's closest finish ever. In that race, Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by 3.1 inches — approximately the length of a credit card — and in doing so, it changed the outcome of Logano's championship.
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In a butterfly effect scenario noticed by NASCAR employee Trey Gomez, Logano would not have won the title without Buescher losing that Kansas race in the smallest of margins. A Buescher victory would have earned him a playoff berth, and Buescher then won a race in Round 1 at Watkins Glen. And when Bowman got disqualified at the end of Round 2, it would have been Buescher — not Logano — who had enough points to be the next driver in the final eight, thus preventing Logano from being championship-eligible.
'There's certainly things that would have carried in this format that makes a lot bigger ripple effects than our more traditional years (with no playoffs),' Buescher said this weekend. 'But we're chasing one-thousandth of a second every week. You're chasing fractions all the time. Ultimately, it's what we sign up to do.'
Yes, but there's perhaps no one better at exploiting that than Logano. The fact that he won a race one week after being disqualified at Talladega for a missing nut on the back of a spoiler bolt seems like a very Logano thing to do.
And that's where the 'funniest thing ever' comes into play. Logano could seize upon this opportunity to build upon his Texas victory and rack up playoff points to put himself in better position for a shot at championship No. 4 this fall. That's certainly the plan.
Orrrrr Logano could continue to have an uneven season, limp his way into the playoffs, eke by in each round again and jab his haters even further by winning yet another title in a year where he wasn't in one of the best cars.
That would go over with NASCAR fans about as well as the Talladega infield banning Mardi Gras-style beads.
It's doubtful Logano cares about the method either way, of course, as long as the result is there.
'Any time you kick us down, I feel like we come back 10 times harder, whatever that is in us,' Logano said.
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Logano was talking about last week and the Talladega DQ, but he could have been referring to his critics in general, who love to root against him.
Regardless of his speed, there's no more feared driver in the playoffs — and now Logano is back for another try.
'Something happens in the playoffs,' he said. 'There's something that happens when someone says something to you. … Whatever that may be, a lot of times it just gives you a little extra motivation, a little chip on your shoulder, a little bit of want to shove it in their face a little bit.'
Logano has done exactly that before. Now he might do it again.
(Top photo of Joey Logano celebrating Sunday's win: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)