Logano Claims Victory in Grueling Race at Texas

Joey Logano claimed victory at the Würth 400 on Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, but the race was far from simple.

This specific race will be characterized by the narrative twists and turns it experienced en route to completion. For instance, although Kyle Larson and Austin Cindric together led 150 out of the 367 laps, they played no significant role in determining the final outcome.

Larson was ahead as they approached later stages of the race when he positioned himself at the front row alongside Michael McDowell for a lap 344 restart. He slightly lost out getting off the line and received some pressure from behind. There’s also speculation it could have been an early start which went unnoticed by race officials.

Larson mentioned, “I became too predictable.” He added that both him and Tyler Reddick seemed to anticipate what was happening. “I tried moving away from Blaney, but since we were going slowly, those pushes made a big difference,” he explained. “Unfortunately, they had me covered cleanly even before Turn 1. I hoped there’d be an open lane with fresh air, but instead, it was blocked off. This caused me to get tight coming into Turns 3 and 4 as well.”

Despite having significantly older tires on his left side, McDowell managed to take the lead until he was surpassed by Logano on lap 264. Eventually, McDowell crashed out of third place after being affected by the turbulent air coming off Ryan Blaney, who had just taken second position from him.

Carson Hocevar led the first 22 laps from the pole and ultimately crashed out.

Josh Berry led 41 laps in the middle stages of the race but crashed from the lead on Lap 126.

Berry commented, “The car performed exceptionally well.” He continued, “From the beginning, I noticed how robust our vehicle was. After making adjustments during the first pit stop, everything improved significantly. We moved into the lead position and gained confidence from this performance. However, as we approached lapped traffic, we had no option but to take different lines since staying behind slower cars would prevent us from turning properly.”

I circled route 62 from the outer lanes feeling rather good about my progress. Later, I caught up with the 51 and focused on navigating it when suddenly hitting a bump made me lose control. There isn’t much I’d change; obviously, driving these vehicles, particularly here, means being quick but also enduring discomfort and constant tension. Sadly, we faced some issues today because of that.

When William Byron was out front, he crashed into Cole Custer on the pit road, which severely damaged his splitter. After losing the lead, his Hendrick No. 24 car never recovered.

Chris Buescher stayed within the top five throughout much of the race but encountered trouble with a flat right-rear tire, which forced him into the wall. Following the mentioned pit stop issue involving Byron, Chase Elliott attempted to make up ground. However, he hit a bump in Turns 3 and 4 causing vibrations that ruined his hopes of repeating as champion.

Blaney began at position 24 and emerged as the winner.

Ross Chastain began at position 31 and ended up in second place.

Joey Logano started 27th and emerged victorious.

It turned into a grueling battle of endurance that concluded with Logano shifting the story around a season which initially began slowly, drawing similarities to his third title run from the previous year.

Champion-chips on the shoulder

Many of Joey Logano’s critics are displeased, but he and his Team Penske No. 22 squad stand out for their resilience, particularly with how well they’ve performed during the NextGen era.

Think about it: Logano hadn’t achieved a top-five finish in the first 10 races of the season and only managed one top-10 placement. However, they secured that long-awaited top-five at Talladega last weekend.
Next was the disqualification due to loose rear spoiler brace bolts.
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Logano has encountered variations of this film previously and had shared his suspicion with his spouse, Brittany, before heading out last week.

“Meaning, there’s usually another tale unfolding next week,” Logano stated. “Before we departed last week, I informed my spouse, saying, ‘Just wait, we’ll triumph this time.’ That’s simply our approach. Whenever someone pushes us aside, I believe we return tenfold stronger, whatever drives us internally. Certainly possessed a swift vehicle today, and as mentioned earlier, it feels great to alter the narrative.”

Paul Wolfe, his crew chief, mentions that his driver performs at their peak when they have something to prove.

“I believe he enjoys it when you cheer against him since that genuinely motivates him,” said Logano.

This type of result and momentum often leads many fans to cheer against the No. 22 team. Last year’s champions secured their victory through one of the most atypical methods in history, but they have started slower than expected this time around. They will likely secure their playoff spot later in the regular season as part of a grueling competition.

Logano didn’t deny it.

Whenever someone shares an opinion about you, consider using it as inspiration—regardless of whether it’s positive or negative,” Logano stated. “Negative remarks and such tend to make you more determined. You might think, ‘I’ll show them they’re wrong,’ which reporters find appealing because it makes for an interesting narrative.

What I’m trying to say is, I don’t believe I’m exerting extra effort during any particular week compared to the rest. However, I suspect that unconsciously, things change. Especially come playoff time, everything shifts. You know, maybe because of certain comments made to me.

Logano says everyone in the industry and life at large can relate to that chip and used the media he was speaking to as an analogy.

“If someone has something bad to say about an article you wrote, you are kind of like, ‘Oh, watch this, maybe I’ll write a better one.’ I don’t know what the next thing is for a reporter, but …

Logano conceded it might not be the best analogy but he said that everyone has that thing that challenges him in the same way his personal detractors do.

“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 said.

Of McDowell

What might sound like an upset today wasn’t quite as surprising five years ago, yet Michael McDowell still managed to come dangerously near to achieving a game-changing win that could have reshaped his season dramatically.

Firstly, McDowell has emerged as a notable underdog in recent years, initially with Front Row Motorsports and currently with Spire Motorsports—two teams that haven’t secured many victories and therefore aren’t typically featured among the pre-Round of 16 forecasts each February.

However, McDowell consistently secures the bulk of his equipment, which is why he was attracted to Spire for this season with a multi-year contract despite being 40 years old. He almost clinched the race using older tires on his left side.

He outmaneuvered Larson to claim the lead initially and pushed Logano right up against the infield wall in an attempt to secure his spot in the playoffs for the third time in five years with two different teams.

In the end, McDowell nosedived after Ryan Blaney seized second place amidst the fluctuating winds.

We were clearly operating with only two wheels, so it was bound to be a challenging fight from the start. However, we believed we had decent odds of success,” McDowell explained during a press gathering in the pit area. “While we didn’t lead the pack today, our speed allowed us to stay competitive… giving us a legitimate chance to contend for victory.

I managed a few strong restarts and one that wasn’t too bad either. But when Logano began closing in, I was pushing myself to my limits. I haven’t watched the replay yet, but during the race, I thought I pushed him as far as possible without going overboard. Unfortunately, he still managed to find his way through.

And the crash?

Yeah, the 12 car cleared me and removed the draft, which surprised me. Throughout the day, I had dealt with turbulent airflow, but that specific instance caught me off guard. It’s disappointing to end the race wrecked up without a chance for a finish or a victory, but our vehicles are incredibly quick, giving us multiple opportunities ahead. As long as we continue like this, we’ll have more chances to succeed. I’m simply annoyed that I couldn’t maintain my position upfront.

For McDowell, it’s a double blow as not only did he fail to secure his place in the playoffs but he also had a crash, which cost him over 20 points. This puts him currently 26 points away from a provisional playoff position, even though he should have been near the cutoff line.

Even though we didn’t win the race, finishing third would have been quite achievable for us, which is why I’m feeling disappointed,” McDowell stated. “We put in maximum effort, and I am glad about that, yet I can’t help being annoyed at coming up short.

He also had a cheerleader observing right behind him, just like Ross Chastain did.

Never before has there been someone in the series cheering for (McDowell) more intensely, not even members of his own team, than myself,” Chastain stated. “I genuinely wished to see him triumph over that opponent for certain.

Tricky trick Texas

After the race, Kyle Larson was questioned about whether he was astonished by the high number of accidents on Sunday or if the circuit proved to be more challenging than expected.

Larson chuckled as he said, “It wasn’t an instant transformation.”

This accurately describes what Texas Motor Speedway is at present and appears likely to remain for some time.

Even though the road surface isn’t freshly paved black anymore, it only offers about two decent lanes, and there’s still a tricky hump in turns three and four that can unsettle your vehicle if hit. This represents the optimal situation.

In the worst-case scenario, it leads to vibrations similar to what Elliott experienced or ends up causing a crash like what happened with Berry.

Just getting your car right can be challenging. To excel in sections one and two, you’ll likely find yourself tense for parts three and four,” Berry explained. “I believe my vehicle performed quite well, which is exactly how I perceived it. Certainly, I must review everything to identify potential changes, yet ultimately, I’m more concerned about being too slow rather than having spun out like that.

Berry highlighted significant disparities between the two sections, making it challenging to find a balanced setup. Corners 1 and 2 feature a bank angle of 20 degrees, whereas corners 3 and 4 have a steeper incline at 24 degrees.

“It’s a complicated arrangement,” Blaney stated.

Blaney mentioned that the confined space of the track forces drivers to stay closely packed together.

One reason is that there’s no place to go, so when we start over, everybody rushes in and crowds the space,” he explained. “Once you lose your rhythm, you tend to skid. The groove becomes worn down, yet the width of the track doesn’t increase.

Thus, everybody becomes increasingly eager to succeed and rushes through, but their forcefulness often leads nowhere in such a tight, speedy environment.

Chastain echoed that sentiment.

Chastain commented, “It’s simply a smooth surface.” He explained further, “The track has been resurfaced recently, and during this process, they managed to create an overly grippy area initially. However, the grip seems to be diminishing now. You can still find traces of the (PJ1 Trackbite) material which hasn’t gone away completely, along with plenty of that distinctive Texas soil scattered across the circuit, even without strong winds as we saw today.”

However, truly, it’s all about the Cup Series and crashing cars is acceptable; our team owners have assured us that this is perfectly fine.

Anecdotes

Denny Hamlin

experienced an uncommon oil pan failure which led him to conclude his race in 38th place.

About one lap after it started swelling, it finally exploded,” Hamlin stated. “I attempted to steer clear of fully triggering it so they could examine precisely what went wrong with it. While I’m not entirely sure what occurred, they will review the data and we should know more within a few weeks.

It’s somewhat similar to the situation withToyota vehicles experiencing unexpectedengine problems overthe last couple ofyears.

“I’ve experienced engine failures across two or three consecutive seasons recently, even though we hadn’t faced such problems for many years before,” Hamlin stated. “We’re working on development and aiming to gain an edge. We definitely believe we require additional power, but this situation caught us off guard.”

Ryan Preece

was left frustrated with

Carson Hocevar

about this incident, and this isn’t the first time they’ve had tensions rise.

“He keeps validating my point time after time,” Preece stated as he exited the infield care facility. “It’s an incredibly swift racecar. Simply unfortunate with our pit stop timing. We were executing everything correctly and making progress.”

Then I was simply crashed into the fence by an individual who shows no regard for our gear or fellow drivers. They will face consequences eventually.

Results

Provisional playoff grid

Christopher Bell WWW

Kyle Larson WW

Denny Hamlin WW

William Byron W

Joey Logano W

Austin Cindric W

Josh Berry W

Chase Elliott +110

Tyler Reddick +109

Ryan Blaney +85

Bubba Wallace +78

Alex Bowman +56

Ross Chastain +53

Chris Buescher +27

Chase Briscoe +17

Ricky Stenhouse +12

—

Kyle Busch -12

Carson Hocevar -21

Ryan Preece -23

AJ Allmendinger -23

Michael McDowell -26

Austin Dillon -28

Ty Gibbs -32

John Hunter Nemechek -33

Daniel Suarez -34

Zane Smith -37

Todd Gilliland -38

Justin Haley -40

Erik Jones -49

Ty Dillon -54

Noah Gragson -82

Brad Keselowski -98

Riley Herbst -99

Cole Custer -113

Shane Van Gisbergen -120