“We’ll keep fighting for the money” - Joey Logano sets sights on the owner’s championship while awaiting potential Alex Bowman appeal
The fate worked in favor of Joey Logano at the Bank of America ROVAL 400. Initially, the Team Penske driver was knocked out of the playoffs by Tyler Reddick, but he found himself in eighth place after Alex Bowman was disqualified after the post-race inception. During a post-race interview at Charlotte, the driver said he would continue competing for the prize money earned by winning the owner’s championship.
Logano is a 34-year-old professional racing driver piloting the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. He is teammates with Austin Cindric and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.
The Connecticut native applauded Tyler Reddick and the No. 45 23XI crew for making up positions after sustaining damage on lap 31.
“Honestly, the 45 [Tyler Reddick’s crew] and Tyler, those guys did a good job driving up through the field and scored more points,” Logano said. [0:20]
However, Joey Logano won’t loosen up in the remaining races of the season in a bid to try and win the NASCAR owner’s championship.
“We’re in the owner’s championships so we can confuse all the fans from here out about driver’s and owner’s championship. The money’s in the owner’s so we’ll keep fighting for the money.” Logano stated. [0:30]
In the early laps of the race, Tyler Reddick was in good form to stay on the bubble. He won stage one to collect ten points. However, the lap 31 incident forced him to pit under caution and lose some positions.
With 50 laps to go, Reddick dropped below the playoff elimination cut line while Logano was up in 6th in the playoff standings. The 28-year-old California native continued gaining positions until he finished 11th when the flag fell at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
With NASCAR’s scoring system, Tyler Reddick advanced to the Round of 8 despite finishing in P11 behind Joey Logano in P8.
The top 5 finishers at Charlotte Motor Speedway were all playoff drivers, spearheaded by race winner Kyle Larson. He was followed by Christopher Bell, William Byron, Austin Cindric, and Chase Elliott.
Joey Logano was eliminated from the playoffs along with Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, and Chase Briscoe.
Joey Logano got back to playoff contention following Alex Bowman’s disqualification
During NASCAR’s post-race inspection, race officials discovered that Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro failed to meet weight requirements. In turn, Bowman’s points accumulated at Charlotte were canceled and he had to settle with a 38th-place finish.
NASCAR Managing Director Brad Moran explained that the No. 48 car was too light per their inspection an hour after the race.
“We backed the car back off the scales, ran it back on, and then, unfortunately, it was the same weight. So the car had a weight issue. All the other cars cleared inspection. The 48 didn’t, and that ends up in a disqualification,” Moran said.
The NASCAR official said the league would expedite any appeal against the disqualification.
With the disqualification, Joey Logano, who was the closest driver below the cutline, was brought back to the playoff picture. He will continue competing as a playoff driver alongside teammate Ryan Blaney.
The next race will be held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 20 for the opening of Round of 8.