After an extremely fast start to the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season that featured a victory at Richmond, Joey Logano appeared to be a lock for the playoffs. However, that win was encumbered and things have not gone as planned for him ever since.
Joey Logano had a very hot start 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, finishing lower than 6th place just once over the course of the first nine races thanks to a wreck at Phoenix. In the ninth race of the season, he claimed his first victory of the 2017 campaign at Richmond and appeared to be locked into the playoffs as a result of it.
However, that win was encumbered and Logano was docked 25 points in the championship standings due to a rear suspension violation. After that, Logano simply went cold. In five races that followed the Richmond race, he finished no higher than 21st place. His first top 20 finish following his win came six races after that win, and it was a 3rd place finish at Michigan, where the Cup Series will race at once again on Sunday.
Despite the fact that he has finished in the top 20 in just four of the 13 races since his victory at Richmond, Logano appears to have a great chance to win at Michigan to lock himself into the playoffs. In addition to the fact that he finished in 3rd place there in June, he will roll off aside of his teammate Brad Keselowski on the front row in 2nd place, so he has shown that he has the speed to get the job done this weekend.
As of now, Logano is on the outside looking in in terms of the playoff picture, and he is pretty far behind the playoff cut line on points, sitting 95 points behind Matt Kenseth, who currently holds the 16th and final spot in the playoff picture. In all likelihood, it’s going to take a victory for last year’s Cup Series runner-up to get into the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
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Four races remain in the 2017 Cup Series regular season, and Logano has had success at each of the four tracks that will host those races. Aside of Michigan, the Cup Series will race at Bristol, Darlington and Richmond to round out the regular season.
Logano is a two-time winner at Bristol, and he finished in 5th place there earlier this season. He has finished in the top 5 in the past two Darlington races as well, and he is a two-time winner at Richmond, with one of those victories coming earlier this season.
However, Michigan may be Logano’s best chance at getting the victory he needs to qualify for the playoffs, and it’s not just because he is a two-time winner there with no finishes outside of the top 10 in the nine races at the track since the 2012 season. As referenced above, his 3rd place finish at Michigan earlier this season came during arguably the coldest streak of his Cup Series career.
While Logano has had success at each of the other three tracks that remain on the Cup Series regular season schedule, none of that success came at a time during which Logano was struggling as much as he was when he finished in 3rd place at Michigan earlier this season.
As he continues to try to break out of his long cold streak, Michigan may prove to be the turning point of Logano’s season, which started out so well but has been going down the drain ever since. He had success there earlier this season despite the fact that he was struggling mightily, and he has not struggled as much recently as he was when the Cup Series rolled into Michigan in mid-June. Can he get the job done to seal himself a spot in the playoffs?
Next: NASCAR Playoff Picture: Who's in, who's out?
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