NASCAR: The one thing Joey Logano could’ve and should’ve done differently

Joey Logano was in the right for much of his scuffle with Denny Hamlin. But how he left it could’ve and should’ve been done differently, and for his own advantage as the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs continue.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano didn’t take too kindly to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin making contact with him toward the end of the First Data 500, the opening race of the round of 8 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, at Martinsville Speedway, whether intentional or not.

Logano’s #22 Ford made contact with the wall coming off of turn four of the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia after Hamlin’s #11 Toyota made slight contact with the left side of the #22 Ford.

This caused one of Logano’s tires to go down, which ultimately resulted in him spinning.

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Logano did recover to finish in eighth place and he is still above the Championship 4 cut line heading into the second of three races in the round of 8 at Texas Motor Speedway. Hamlin finished four positions ahead of him in fourth.

After the race, Logano and Hamlin had what Hamlin later described as a “civil” discussion about the on-track incident before Logano attempted to end it by shoving Hamlin but then quickly walking away.

This led to a brawl between crew members, which in turn led to both Logano and Hamlin trying to get a piece of one another.

Again, whether intentional or not, it was Hamlin’s contact with Logano that sent Logano into the wall, caused one of his tires to go down and ultimately resulted in him spinning out, falling to the back of the field and needing to drive his way up through the field just to finish in eighth place.

With that in mind, Logano had every right to be upset.

Neither driver was going to win the race, but Hamlin finishing four positions ahead of Logano netted him four extra points, thus costing Logano the same amount of valuable points.

As of now, Hamlin sits just 10 points ahead of Logano, and every point matters when it comes to qualifying for the Championship 4 considering the fact that there are four positions available and only a maximum of three automatic berths via round of 8 race victories.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. locked up one of those three automatic berths by winning the race.

Logano later stated that he came to Hamlin seeking an apology, which he ultimately didn’t get. This is what led him to shove his rival, leading to the ensuing brawl.

Logano’s initial mistake was expecting an apology. He isn’t the only out there racing for a championship, and yes, like Hamlin so memorably stated in Logano’s voice after the brawl, “Ah, short-track racin’!”

It was this lack of satisfaction that led to Logano ultimately starting the brawl with a shove.

As stated above, both drivers are racing for a championship. Both drivers are racing for every point available.

But petty shove-and-run doesn’t improve your playoff position; it only worsens it.

Logano himself admitted that he didn’t go over to Hamlin with the intent of getting physical, and he admitted that he “maybe shouldn’t have shoved him” to escalate the situation more than it needed to be.

If Logano had any interest in exacting revenge, he’d save it for the race track, exactly where Hamlin screwed up his run.

Now he has turned himself into the villain in a situation that Hamlin ultimately started, intentionally or not.

And he knows it enough to admit it in a public interview.

Of course, let’s be honest with ourselves here; with Logano being Logano and this race being at Martinsville Speedway, he was going to be labeled the villain either way. It doesn’t take much for that to be the case, as fans well know from 2015 and 2018.

But on the race track, which is where the racing is done — not on social media where everybody seems to think that their driver is the only driver competing for anything — now he has a target on his back.

The only question is whether or not that will mean anything negative for him; last season after he moved Truex out of the way to win this race to secure a Championship 4 berth, Truex stated that “he ain’t winnin’ the damn war”.

Logano then went on to win the championship anyway, passing Truex, who still advanced to the Championship 4, in the closing laps of the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to do it.

No harm, no foul, right?

Will Joey Logano see any part of the rest of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season affected negatively for him as a result of this scuffle with Denny Hamlin? Is he done with Hamlin as far as revenge is concerned? Just two races remain in the round of 8 prior to the Championship 4 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.