NASCAR: Joey Logano defends racing leaders hard while 24 laps down

Joey Logano faced criticism for racing the leaders of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway hard while he was 24 laps down. But he defended his actions.

Joey Logano saw his chance at having a decent opening race of the three-race round of 12 of the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs come to an end before this race, the Drydene 400, at Dover International Speedway even went green.

A busted rear axle forced him to drive his #22 Team Penske Ford to the garage, and his crew worked feverishly just to get him back out on the track.

The aim for the team at this point was to minimize damage and try to salvage as many points as possible via Logano staying on the track throughout the remainder of the 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked Monster Mile oval in Dover, Delaware and other drivers having issues.

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As it turned out, even being 24 laps off the lead lap, Logano ended up being the subject of the rather tame race’s biggest controversy.

As the end of stage two approached on lap 240, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin had been dominant after starting from the pole position. He led 218 of the race’s 228 laps.

But he came up behind Logano and could not pass him, causing him to lose the lead and then second place to teammate Martin Truex Jr. and eventual race winner Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing, respectively.

Hamlin ended up never regaining the lead and having to settle for a fifth place finish. Logano ended up finishing in 34th and scored three points as the lowest running driver of those who actually finished the race, and he finished 25 laps off the lead lap.

While the fact that he was racing the leaders hard while running two dozen miles off the lead lap was deemed controversial, especially to Hamlin, who felt that Logano cost him his chance to win the race and to clinch a spot in the round of 8, Logano defended it for this reason and stated that it was his right to race hard, and he ultimately gained two points more than what he could have gained had he not gotten back out on the track at all.

Here is what Logano had to say about the matter, according to NASCAR.

"“We’re out there racing. I’ve got to race. Here’s the situation…there’s four or five cars that I could possibly catch. That’s five points. I’m in by zero points right now, so we’ve better get ’em all. So, when you think of that, I’ve got to try to get every car I possibly can. I’m still racing. I ran as hard as I could this whole race. Don’t have anything to show for it, but I ran it as if we were on the lead lap and did everything we possibly did to be better.”"

Following this disappointing result, Logano finds himself below the round of 8 cut line, although he is only below it because he is on the wrong end of a tiebreaker with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, who currently sits in the eighth and final transfer spot.

The second of three races in the round of 12 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is the 1000Bulbs.com 500, and it is scheduled to take place this Sunday, October 13. NBC is set to broadcast this race live from Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.