Despite winning at Richmond International Raceway, Joey Logano is still looking to fight for his way into the NASCAR Playoffs.

 

Logano was received an encumbered penalty at Richmond, which stripped his win away for use towards the playoffs. Logano’s car was found to have a trailing arm spacer that was not in complete contact with its corresponding surfaces.

 

As a result, Logano lost Todd Gordon, his crew chief, for two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points events.

 

Before the penalty, Logano had an average eight place finish in the first eight events. Before Richmond, Logano led 218 laps. After the penalty, Logano’s average finish was 21.8, while only leading 163 laps in eight races.

 

However, Logano does not believe the penalty from Richmond is the reason for the slump.

 

“I think we know what it is and I don’t think it is that. That was so small that it didn’t make our car faster. That is the unfortunate part. it wasn’t something we were trying to do, it was something that happened after the race and it was a 32nd-of-an-inch,” Logano stated.

 

Logano attributes the struggles to crashing and new different body modifications to the cars.

 

“After Richmond, we had three crashes in a row. There were some different modifications to our bodies that NASCAR started regulating that took some performance away from our cars and we have to try to make that up. That is kind of the biggest thing right now,” said Logano.

 

Logano is now in a precarious position sitting right on the bubble of either making the playoffs or sitting out. Logano is currently in a battle with Matt Kenseth for that final playoff position.

 

“It is going to be a battle to the end for sure. I feel like both the race teams are really good. Both the race teams have fought for championships before. It is kind of interesting that we are both in this unique position right now trying to make the playoffs,” said Logano.

 

Logano is surprised that he is in the position that he is in, but knows that hard work will be an important key. The biggest key for the No. 22 team and Team Penske as a whole, it is about finding more speed.

 

“Our team is still capable of winning. We do have to get a little more speed in our cars. I think that is apparent. We have to be able to make our cars faster,” Logano stated.

 

Logano and his No. 22 team only have eight more chances to either win or score the most points to be able to run for a championship beginning in September.

Caleb Whisler
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