Bob Pockrass
FOX NASCAR Insider
Joey Logano by no means talked to crew chief Paul Wolfe about the opportunity of profitable a title in 2024 to perform one thing solely 9 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have completed.
For two-time Cup champion Logano, it is apparent. The aim yearly is to win a championship, so the truth that he’ll be competing for his third Cup title Sunday at Phoenix Raceway does not embrace the added incentive for him to affix the elite three-time champion membership.
“He didn’t point out something about it, actually,” Wolfe mentioned. “It hasn’t been mentioned. Some guys have two, however getting three, clearly, would put him in an elite group.”
One day Logano will look again on his profession and see the place he ranks among the many better of all time, however the one time speak of profitable a 3rd title enters the dialog is when somebody mentions that the Team Penske driver has some already two, not what it will do for his inheritance nor for the corporate he would be a part of.
“I can not say I actually considered it that means,” Logano mentioned. “My aim yearly is similar: it does not matter if we received one, none, 5. The aim is to win the championship.
“So the dialog between me and Paul does not need to occur. We know that. That’s simply the tip aim.”
If Logano wins his third title on Sunday, it will be thought-about essentially the most unlikely. After ending fifteenth within the common season standings, a win within the chaotic five-overtime sport in Nashville put them within the playoffs. He then received the opening playoff race on the draft-style occasion in Atlanta after which used a fuel-burning technique to win in Las Vegas within the semifinal.
The Las Vegas win gave him an automated shot on the title at Phoenix, the place the very best finisher amongst Logano, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick (your complete 40-car subject competes within the race itself) takes the title .
So Logano ought to really feel a bit proud. No driver because the elimination format started in 2014 has gone from fifteenth place within the common season to having an opportunity to win the championship within the ultimate race.
Logano, whose six appearances in Champ 4 are essentially the most because the elimination format started in 2014, is sort of impressed with getting one other shot on the title.
“Making Championship 4 is an accomplishment in itself,” Logano mentioned. “Getting right here will not be simple. You need to have an everyday season that helps you get via the playoffs. And in the event you do not, then it’s a must to run to the playoffs and win the most effective races, a very powerful races.
“We did not have the most effective common season. We found out tips on how to have a stable playoff run, profitable a pair and inserting within the Championship 4.”
So it is a large deal to also have a likelihood, proper?
“It’s an accomplishment to make it, however no person remembers who got here in second final yr,” Logano mentioned. “I do not know. I do not know who, I do not know who he was
“And so the necessary factor is to win, that is what it means. It’s nice to do it, however at this level the necessary factor is to win.”
Logano has made a reputation for himself as the driving force who appears to carry out at his finest when it issues most. He has received in two of his 5 earlier Champ 4 appearances, together with the newest in 2022.
“This is a group that by no means offers up and is aware of you will by no means be out of this,” Wolfe mentioned. “This format, greater than ever, permits that to occur, retains you motivated and dealing laborious each week as a result of although we have had a reasonably up and down yr and we have had our justifiable share of struggles, there’s nonetheless a possibility.
“And finally, everybody on the group was capable of take that chance and make it occur.”
If Logano and the group could make it on Sunday, Logano won’t solely win three titles, however he will even be the third driver to win three titles within the 2000s (Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart the others) and the 34-year-old will probably be solely the fifth to take action underneath 35 years outdated.
“So I’ve just a few years (to win extra),” Logano mentioned.
Right now, the main focus is simply on Sunday to see if he can be a part of Johnson, Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Lee Petty.
“There would completely be satisfaction in that,” Logano mentioned. “I do not know if that is what drives me to do it, however it will clearly be very nice to win one other championship.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He spent many years protecting motorsports, together with greater than 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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