THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, Joey Logano.
You’re the first driver to secure Championship 4 spot. How does that feel?
JOEY LOGANO: It feels great. What do you think I was going to say (laughter)? Obviously it feels really good. So proud of our race team all the way through.
This group of guys, they’re truly incredible. They’re good people, which is one of the things I’m most proud of, but they’re really smart. In the Playoffs, they’re able to really be able to keep a level head and maximize the races no matter what’s dealt with them.
Today we had a solid car. We were not as good as the 20, but we were a top-five car. In the long run we were probably the best car. We got ate up on the restarts too much.
When there’s an opportunity like that at the end of the race, where there’s a long run, you’re able to make good mileage, that’s one of our strengths that we have with the Ford, so there’s an opportunity there to run it long.
When you put that together with Paul Wolfe, an incredible crew chief, we call him Big Ball Paul now (smiling), he really makes that happen there. Engineers calculating everything. Then communication, right? To Coleman, my spotter, back down to me as a driver, how much can I save, what’s going on around me. Obviously we don’t want to win by too much, make sure you save enough gas to get to the end.
Yeah, able to make it happen. So excited.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.
Q. How do you feel about this one-week swing? Low of lows, now you’re in the Championship 4. You can’t make this stuff up.
JOEY LOGANO: You really can’t.
Q. Nobody in Hollywood would write this script.
JOEY LOGANO: You’re right.
I don’t know. I’m just blessed to be in this situation that we’re in, right? We were good enough last week to be the next guy to get in, the next team to get in. We were good enough to do that. Today we were able to do that.
My wife, I talked to her in Victory Lane, she’s like, Do you believe one week ago at this hour… I come walking out of our bedroom, and I said, You’re not going to believe this shit (laughter). Here we are a week later. I told her, You ain’t going to believe this, that we won this one.
So excited about the opportunity ahead of us, right? Our focus now moves forward to Phoenix. The next two weeks don’t really matter. It’s the advantage that we earned. We know what that advantage is worth. It’s a worth a lot. Our focus tomorrow morning will be on Phoenix, job to finish.
Q. I feel the cohesion of Team Penske was on display all weekend. How does that help define the team principles?
JOEY LOGANO: I don’t think there’s a team out there that works better together than Team Penske. That is just in our DNA all the way through. That started years and years and years ago. I can’t even take credit for being part of that.
From when I got there, the openness between team to team. I remember years ago Brad telling me when I got there, I’d rather you beat me and finish second than him beating me and finishing 21st, right? That’s the attitude that we have.
When you have that all the way through the team, it’s just very helpful for us. Been around long enough to realize that it’s good to see your teammate win. I know you want to be the top dog, right, obviously?
The more I’m around the sport, the more I realize how that really raises the whole team. Then you build relationships with people that makes you happy to see. It affects their life, right? Those bonuses are real for the teams.
Anything you can do to help those people that you care about is something really special to me. Me talking like an old man after years of being here (smiling). But I truly believe that.
That teamwork all the way through with Austin, Blaney, the guys building the cars, we’re all on the same page and truly happy for each other’s success.
Q. What is it with you and (indiscernible)?
JOEY LOGANO: Beats me. I told you guys, you can bring this stuff up, and I don’t even know. Bob didn’t even think I was going to make the Playoffs this year. Who’s laughing now (laughter)? Let’s get motivation. I appreciate it. I needed that (smiling).
Q. (No microphone.)
JOEY LOGANO: That’s funny (laughter).
Q. What was going through your mind in the closing laps as you heard Bell closing in?
JOEY LOGANO: Yeah, I was just focused on the information I was being fed. I was going as fast as I felt comfortable going with saving fuel. I knew I couldn’t waste time with Suarez. I knew I had to get by him. Took an extra lap longer than I wanted it to be. Was able to get by him in enough time. Felt like we were in good shape.
I only knew that because of what Coleman was telling me up there. He is like, I think we are in good shape. He is not going to catch us if we keep doing what we are doing. As long as you don’t get enough traffic friction by passing cars and not doing it efficiently, you’re going to be able to stay ahead there.
The pace was starting to equal out as tires were wearing after a long run like that. That information made me pretty confident. I know Paul well enough now that when I hear it in his voice, he felt pretty confident we were going to make it on gas.
They kind of said what we’re doing is working about 25, 30 laps to go. I felt like if I can just kind of keep running this pace, hopefully the 99 is going to have to save more and he’ll back up, then just got to go fast enough to stay in front of the 20.
Q. As a driver, when you’re running that many laps, low on fuel, were you like, Are you guys sure about this?
JOEY LOGANO: I mean, yeah. Like I said, I’m going off of what they tell me. They seemed pretty confident. Like I said, it takes the whole team to do it. Our gas man, Nick Hensley, has so much experience on the racetrack. He’s so smart as a gas man. He totally gets it. He did a good job at packing it when it mattered.
Our engineers, Shaggy and Joe, Paul on the box, they do a good job at really understanding what we’re going to need to make it, how to efficiently tell me what to do, right?
At that point, Just tell me what to do because I don’t have all your squiggly lines. I don’t know what’s going on. You got to coach me.
They did a great job at doing that.
Q. Enough fuel to do a burnout.
JOEY LOGANO: Absolutely (smiling).
Q. Both Paul and your tire changer said to me everybody is pissed off now because Joey Logano is the last person they want to see in the Round of 4. What is it about this team that people fear so much?
JOEY LOGANO: I don’t know exactly what it is. I do know that this team rises to the occasion. That’s why I said I’m so proud to be a part of ’em. It’s not just me driving the car. All these guys realize what’s on the line.
Like I said, they’ve been doing it for so long. We’re experienced. We can stay calm in real heated situations. When the money’s there, we’re able to show up, for whatever reason that is.
I think a lot of it’s some natural things built inside of you, God-given things that make you love the moments of the pressure on, right? You got to learn to love that stuff. I think that’s just what it is.
There’s no other group that I’d rather go to battle with, I can promise you that. Not one other team on this field that I would rather have than what the 22 team is right now.
Q. You might be the best in the series at taking a car that’s not good that day and maximizing it and ending up here. Is there any sense of pride in that?
JOEY LOGANO: I mean, like I said, it takes all of us to do that. I think our team does a good job at taking a car that might not be the fastest and we’re able to make it happen. Whether that’s late-race restarts, studying those things with Coleman to be able to make sure that we do the right things on restarts, or days like today, two tires versus four tires. Whatever it may be, we work really hard at it. Every team does. Don’t get me wrong. Every team looks at these scenarios, how to do it.
If you keep yourself towards the front, close enough. We all know how NASCAR races are, they’re unpredictable. I’d say at one point in this race it was pretty predictable what you thought was going to happen, it didn’t. It’s wild is what it is. You never know, right?
There’s many times, and my wife will beat me up on this all the time. I’ll say, We’re just having a rough year. I get down on myself every now and again. She is like, Just remember 2018, remember 2022. It wasn’t the greatest years, and you’re there. Before you know it, you have a shot.
Same scenario again where we had maybe not the best regular season, but when the pay window opens up in the Playoffs, the 22 shows up.
Q. Paul said he felt like this was the best strategy to maximize points today. Did you feel that way or did you feel like you were here to win or finish a lap or two down because you ran out of gas?
JOEY LOGANO: He told me we’re one lap short. Saving one lap over the course of that many laps, not that hard to do. With him knowing those numbers, that’s going to put us in the best spot. Even if the caution comes out, it’s not near the window where everyone pitted and they would stay out, we’re going to be in a pretty solid spot.
I’d say from what Paul said there, yeah, absolutely. We were 10th-ish, somewhere around there, before everyone started pitting. It kind of all worked out that way.
Q. You led the last six laps, the only laps you led all day. Did you think you could get to the front? What was the conversation like as you were running the final six laps trying to keep Bell from catching you?
JOEY LOGANO: Yeah, like I said, just constant flow of information. How many cars in between us, how much the distance of where the 20 is to where I’m at, right? It’s just a constant flow of where it’s at.
The less I’m guessing, the more I can’t affect the situation.
Q. Did you feel like you didn’t have to guess as much?
JOEY LOGANO: I didn’t have to guess at all. They told me. They told me what to do?
Q. This will be your sixth Championship 4 appearance, most of any driver in this era. Does that mean something to you or is the focus just the championship?
JOEY LOGANO: Both, right? Our goal when we show up in Daytona every year for Media Day, What’s the goal? Win the championship. There’s nothing else that matters. I don’t care how you get there, what you do, it’s all about winning the championship. A big step of that is getting into the Championship 4.
There’s a lot of pride in making it to the Championship 4. It’s tough, right? A long year, you got to get through a lot of different scenarios, a lot of curve balls that are thrown your way. It’s hard, right? Making it is something to be proud of, there’s no doubt.
I also have lived through the moments of getting to the Championship 4 and not winning and feeling that pain. Being that close and not winning, that sucks, right? I can’t put a better way of saying that. That hurts a lot.
It’s all about maximizing the opportunity that’s ahead of us. As proud as I am that we’ve made it, I also feel like the job’s far from being over because I know what that feeling is if you don’t make it happen.
Q. Even though this wasn’t like your other Vegas wins, has this been the best case of timing in your career?
JOEY LOGANO: I don’t know how to answer that part of it. There’s been some great parts of my career. There’s been some low moments. Sometimes it all happens in one year. I feel like that’s kind of what’s happened this year. Been some pretty tough Sunday nights, then some pretty great ones.
We’re trying to end on a good note right now. Like I said, got a great opportunity ahead of us. We just need to maximize it.
Q. Team Penske has a chance to go three for three in terms of championships. In this era of parity, what has allowed you and Team Penske to continuously put yourself in these positions?
JOEY LOGANO: People. It’s that simple. Like I said, Roger has assembled some incredible people at Penske. I know everybody says this about their teams a lot of times. I truly believe it. Got some really solid people, right? Not just what they do at the track, but what they do at home, the way they live. Like I said, I’m really proud to be a part of a team like this.
Roger’s way of just building people around him, the environment of what’s expected at Team Penske. He doesn’t have to say it anymore, right? When we hire somebody, it’s not like he has to come in there and tell them what he expects. It’s pretty well-known. All of us know. It’s kind of snowballed ever since.
Ton of credit to Roger for hiring the correct people, but also creating a culture that’s surrounded or centered by, one, winning, but also doing it in an elite way.
Q. You mentioned 2018, 2022. You get to the Playoffs, you’re always competitive. What makes you and the 22 team rise in these moments?
JOEY LOGANO: Like I said, it’s the people. It really is. Like I said, we’re very experienced. We’ve been around the block of a few times. We know how long the season is.
I think Joe Dilly is our youngest member on our team, our front changer. Everyone else is at least my age. We’ve all been doing this in our sport for a long, long time. I just think when you got a group like that that just gets it, they’re all married with kids for the most part. Everyone just really understands what life’s about at this point.
We also know that, hey, these opportunities don’t happen every year. You don’t know how much longer you got, right? You want to make sure that you capitalize when you have these opportunities these days.
Q. (Off microphone) did you overachieve by making the Championship 4?
JOEY LOGANO: Maybe in your mind (smiling). Right? I don’t know. For us, our goal always is to make it. We truly believe we can.
Like I said, there’s been many years where by the stats it doesn’t look too good, but we’ve been able to capitalize when it matters. The Playoffs, we just turn the wick up. I don’t know what exactly that is, but it just happens.
When you look at our Playoff wins in our history versus our regular-season wins, it’s crazy looking percentage-wise what that is.
We just seem like when the Playoffs come around, we do a really good job. Like I said, I’m very proud of that. But I always think of what Roger says. It’s one of my favorite things he ever said. Don’t trip on your press clippings. Don’t get too over your skis. The job’s not done yet. We have to keep staring out the windshield, keep our heads down and grind it for the next few weeks to get us an advantage.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
