A long NASCAR Cup Series regular season is over, culminating with the toughest race of the season Sunday night at Darlington Raceway.
Joey Logano, for one, was glad to see it end.
“Good,” Logano laughed. “Thank God. I was ready for that one to be over and have the second part of our season fire off and have a reset in points.”
Logano finished eighth in the Southern 500, his first top-10 finish since mid-July at Pocono Raceway. The regular season produced one win for Logano (Nashville Superspeedway) and two stage wins. He finished 15th in the regular season standings.
But now that the field has been reset, the two-time Cup Series champion for Team Penske (the only driver with multiple championships in this year’s playoff field) begins his quest for another title reseeded in the ninth position. But he has just seven playoff points to start the postseason.
“We kind of dug ourselves a pretty deep hole early in the season and honestly, crazy things have happened all year,” Logano said. “I’m glad to have that behind us, and we close the gap there … when the playoffs start. So, we’ll fire it away and get this thing in the Championship 4.”
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Logano has been in the title race five times — along with Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, the most for any driver in the Cup Series. However, on the heels of his second championship last year, Logano was eliminated in the first round.
The team hasn’t won multiple races in a season since its 2022 title run. In 2022 and ’23, Logano ended the season with the same number of top-10 and top-five finishes. And although they continue to be in title contention, it still appears the team is fighting for consistent speed that would keep them near the front.
“We have a lot of experience on this team, I think that’s probably the biggest [strength],” Logano said. “We’ve all been there, done that at this point. We’re a pretty old team. There’s nothing wrong with that; I think that’s a good thing when you can go into the playoffs because for a lot of these guys, it’s some of their first, second, or third time in the playoffs, and maybe some of them haven’t gone very far.
“So, we’ve been there and done that, and I feel confident we can run hard and get something out of it.”
The fight for survival begins with the first postseason race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s the first time a superspeedway race will be the kickoff event, which can quickly put favorites on their back foot early. Logano will be considered a favorite, as Ford drivers are on superspeedways, but he’s not getting ahead of himself.
“Yeah, but it’s still a superspeedway and you saw how the last one ended in Daytona,” the 2023 spring Atlanta winner said. “As confident as you feel about having speed in your race car and being able to win that race, you also have the same thought in your mind that, boy, you can get caught up in something there, and it happens really quick. We just have to stay up front and get stage points when you can and race your guts out until the end of that one.”
No matter what might be ahead, it’s Logano’s favorite time of the year.
“I love it. I love it,” he smiled. “That’s why I said I’m happy the regular season is over. I wish we had a better finish through the points but the positive side is it’s over. So, moving on.”