“Can’t Do More Than 100%”: Joey Logano Forced to Admit His NASCAR Decline Before Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600 has at all times been one in every of NASCAR’s hardest weekends. 600 miles, 4 phases, and a brutal grind factors that may fully reshape the championship image earlier than summer season actually begins. For most prime drivers, it is one other alternative to seize momentum. But for Joey Logano, this yr’s race arrives with a really totally different feeling. Instead of speaking confidently about contending for wins, the reigning veteran star is brazenly admitting that his workforce is already taking part in catch-up far earlier within the season than anticipated.
Joey Logano admits Team Penske’s present standing
“I mean it’s the same amount every week. You can’t do more than 100 percent. We’re already at it right? It is hard to find a little more. So, yeah, we’re as focused as we know how to be and do everything we can to make up the deficit that we’re at. Obviously, we’re way behind compared to where we’ve been in the past and where we should be. So we got work to do and hopefully this we can turn around a little bit.”
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That was a surprisingly blunt admission from Joey Logano forward of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. For a driver who has spent one of the best a part of the final decade persistently close to the highest of the standings, 2026 has regarded unusually messy thus far. Through the opening 12 races of the season, the three-time Cup Series champion remains winless and sits 18th in factors, presently outdoors the comfy playoff place many anticipated him to occupy for this stage of the yr.
The numbers inform the story fairly clearly. Joey Logano has managed simply two top-five finishes all season whereas carrying a median end of twenty-two.5. This is shockingly low requirements for a driver of his caliber and for Team Penske as a complete. However, his finest performances got here proper at first of the yr.
He completed third within the Daytona 500 and later backed that up with one other third-place consequence at Martinsville. But outdoors these flashes, the season has largely spiraled into frustration. He completed thirty first at Phoenix, thirty third at Darlington, thirtieth at Kansas, thirty ninth at Talladega, thirty seventh at Texas, and thirty eighth at Watkins Glen after a mix of crashes, mechanical points, poor monitor place, and race-day struggles repeatedly buried the No. 22 workforce.
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Now, as Joey Logano heads into Charlotte for one in every of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races, the urgency contained in the Penske camp abruptly feels much more actual than anybody anticipated coming into 2026.
Logano celebrates with Team Penske
While Joey Logano continues battling by means of a irritating 2026 marketing campaign on the racetrack, this week additionally gave him an opportunity to step again and mirror on the larger image surrounding his profession with Team Penske.
The just lately celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with a particular exhibit group unveiling on the NASCAR Hall of Fame, honoring a long time of racing success throughout a number of disciplines. The show options among the most iconic automobiles and moments in Penske historical past, together with championship-winning equipment from Logano’s personal Cup Series profession.
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For Joey Logano, seeing these automobiles displayed contained in the Hall carried loads of emotion.
Since becoming a member of Team Penske in 2013, he has delivered 35 Cup Series victories and three championships, serving to cement himself as one of many defining drivers of the trendy Penske period. During the disclosing occasion, Logano spoke in regards to the strain and duty that comes with driving for one in every of NASCAR’s most embellished organizations, whereas additionally emphasizing that no achievement within the sport occurs individually.
Every win, championship, and milestone, he defined, displays the work of numerous workforce members who helped construct the Penske legacy over six a long time. Ironically, the celebration additionally arrives throughout one of the crucial troublesome stretches of Logano’s latest profession. Entering the weekend, he sits 38 factors beneath the playoff cutline, putting added strain on the upcoming races to reverse momentum earlier than the postseason image turns into even tighter.
Still, the Hall of Fame exhibit served as a reminder that Team Penske’s historical past has at all times been constructed on resilience, adaptability, and long-term success. These are the precise qualities Joey Logano desperately hopes may also help spark a turnaround over the second half of the 2026 season.
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