NASCAR: Yes, Joey Logano was racing for positions, but was he really?

Joey Logano had every right to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway after a mechanical issue before the race began mired him many laps down. But what is the deal with him racing the leaders hard while running 24 laps off the lead lap?

A busted rear axle before the Drydene 400 got underway at Dover International Speedway sent Team Penske’s Joey Logano to the garage for his #22 Ford to be repaired.

By the time Logano finally took to the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked Monster Mile oval in Dover, Delaware, he was several laps off the lead lap without a chance of contending for a solid result in the opening race of the round of 12 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

At this point, Logano’s goal was to pick up as many positions as possible via other drivers having issues in order to salvage as many points as he could.

But while running 24 laps off the lead lap toward the end of stage two (lap 240) of this 400-lap race, Logano ended up being a road block as the race leaders approached.

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At this point, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin had led 218 of the race’s first 228 laps after starting from the pole position. But unable to get around Logano, he gave up the lead to teammate Martin Truex Jr. and then second place to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson.

Hamlin finished this race in fifth place without leading another lap, and after Logano explained why he was racing the leaders hard even when two dozen miles off the lead lap, Hamlin slammed his “stupid statement”. Hamlin believed that Logano effectively ruined his chance of winning this race and becoming the first driver to clinch a spot in the round of 8.

Hamlin still sits 48 points above the round of 8 cut line with two races remaining in the round of 12, so he is still in a pretty good position as it pertains to advancing from the second to the third round of the four-round, 10-race playoffs.

But did Logano have a right to race the leaders the way he did while effectively just riding around the track hoping other drivers would fall out of contention?

Logano had every right to be on the track and trying to pick up points by advancing positions, so he had a point in defending his position. And he certainly had a point in still giving it his all.

However, the only positions that he was going to gain were the positions of the backmarkers who regularly finish races many laps off the lead lap and other drivers who experienced issues throughout the race.

Racing Hamlin, Truex and Larson hard had nothing to do with that plan.

Yes, letting them pass him would have meant going another lap down, but at that point, we’re already talking 24 laps down. He wasn’t fighting to stay on the lead lap or to stay one lap off the lead lap to put himself in a position to get back on the lead lap during the ensuing caution flag period for the end of stage two.

Plus, Hamlin, Truex and Larson were still lapping the other backmarkers at a far more rapid race, so Logano wasn’t losing any ground to these other drivers. He was clearly far quicker than they were, although he was still several laps behind them to begin with.

Up until this point, he was doing what he needed to do to the best he possibly could as far as gaining ground back on these backmarkers while Hamlin, Truex and Larson were involved in their own battles.

But that’s when he got involved where he had absolutely no reason to be involved, and not even for his own good. He could very well have made enemies moving forward, something that won’t play to his advantage as he seeks to defend his championship.

Logano finished the race in 34th place, 25 laps off the lead lap, and scored three points. With a 35th place finish, he would have scored two points, and with a 36th, 37th or 38th place finish, he would have scored only one point.

With a two-point net gain, he effectively achieved his goal of salvaging points. It doesn’t seem like much, but it could be huge, adding to the idea that he had every right to be back out on the track.

As it stands right now, he sits outside of the round of 8 cut line, as he is on the wrong end of a tiebreaker with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. Byron sits in the eighth and final transfer spot.

But Logano notably finished in 34th of the 34 drivers who actually finished the race, so the only drivers he ended up finishing ahead of were the drivers who were unable to finish the race due to issues of their own. The 33rd place driver, Rick Ware Racing’s Garrett Smithley, finished two laps ahead of him. Rick Ware Racing’s J.J. Yeley finished in 32nd, another three laps ahead of Smithley.

The decision whether to respect or disrespect the race leaders and their battles didn’t have anything to do with this result and this two-point gain, nor did it have anything to do with what Logano was aiming for by still racing at all even though he clearly wasn’t going to record a solid result.

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You always want to race hard and never give up, but running 24 laps off the lead lap, Joey Logano wouldn’t have been “giving up” by not racing the leaders as though he was a lead-lap car battling for the race lead.

At that point, they had two different goals anyway, and his decision to get involved in theirs was a bit baffling, especially given the implications it may have in terms of how he is raced throughout the remaining six races of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Logano is one of the few drivers who has proven to expect to be raced how he races others. But is racing the leaders hard while running 24 laps off the lead lap really how he wants to set the tone moving forward into situations in which they may all be up front further down the toad?

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