Team Penske Exec Defends Joey Logano’s Late-Season Resurgence Amid Alarming Intermediate Track Concerns

Joey Logano has found his rhythm at just the right time once again. He won the Bristol night race last Saturday and is now a championship favorite, despite looking down and out of postseason contention at one point this season. That is, if he can overcome some major hurdles ahead, which has Team Penske Executive Vice President Walt Czarnecki slightly concerned.

Logano’s record on intermediate tracks this season leaves plenty of room for questions. That becomes even more interesting when you look at what some of his fellow Chase contenders have been doing at Kansas. With the pressure about to rise, Logano’s late-season resurgence is facing an important test.

“But after Chicago, he got a new, I won’t call a new lease on life, he started being encouraged, and we were running better throughout the whole organization. And then, he’s the one who said, we’re not out of this thing. He demonstrated that he’s not out of his thing,” Team Penske Executive Vice President Walt Czarnecki told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Logano has yet to score a single stage point at a 1.5-mile track in 2026. That becomes particularly noteworthy with Kansas next on the schedule, especially when several of his championship rivals arrive with much stronger recent form at the track. Chase Briscoe, for example, has finished inside the top five in all three of his Kansas starts with Joe Gibbs Racing. Denny Hamlin has also been exceptionally productive there recently, leading 53% of the laps across his last two visits.

Those numbers do not necessarily tell us what will happen when the green flag falls, but they do highlight the challenge facing Logano. His recent run has given him plenty of momentum, yet Kansas could force the No. 22 team to prove that its resurgence can translate to a type of track where the results have not been as encouraging.

That is where the timing of Logano’s current run becomes so important. The three-time Cup champion has spent much of the season trying to put himself back into contention, and now he has finally reached a position where every strong result can make a meaningful difference.

After the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, the 18th race of the campaign, Logano had dropped as low as 20th in the standings. He even called his No. 22 Ford a piece of “junk”. At that point, a championship push looked like a distant possibility.

However, three races later, Logano dominated at North Wilkesboro, securing a much-needed victory for the No. 22 team. He followed that up with another win at Richmond, finishing ninth in the regular season. Then the Chase began, and Logano continued his resurgence by winning the third round at Bristol.

His Bristol victory last Saturday was particularly timely. With seven races remaining, Logano sits third in the standings, just 16 points behind Kyle Larson. That is a remarkable position considering where he was earlier in the year. But getting back into championship contention is only part of the challenge. Logano now needs to make the most of every opportunity as the No. 22 team looks to maintain its late-season charge.

“You got to get hot at the right time and take advantage of the cars when you have them. We’ve been fortunate enough to go to some racetracks that we’ve been good at in the past historically and we’ve been able to capitalize on those. That’s helped us close that gap some,” Logano said in the press conference after the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

That ability to capitalize at the right moment has become one of the defining characteristics of Logano’s championship career. In 2024, he endured another difficult regular season, falling as low as 17th in the standings after the Coca-Cola 600 and initially missing the Round of 8.

He was eventually reinstated after Alex Bowman’s car failed inspection, and Logano immediately made the most of the second opportunity, winning at Las Vegas. He then went on to claim the championship at Phoenix, where he also won the race.

Similar late-season surges defined Logano’s championship campaigns in 2022 and 2018, further reinforcing his reputation for peaking when the season reaches its most important stage.

That history explains why Czarnecki is not counting Logano out. But Kansas presents a different challenge. Logano has momentum, sits within striking distance of the championship lead, and still has seven races ahead. Now, he needs to show that his resurgence can continue on a track type that has not treated him well this season.

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