Chase Elliott may have the illusory “momentum” — thanks to his 11th-hour victory at Martinsville Speedway — but Joey Logano considers himself the favorite to win a second NASCAR Cup Series title in Sunday’s Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Logano’s confidence is founded on facts. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the winner at Phoenix in March, before the coronavirus pandemic interrupted the NASCAR season. Logano won the opening race in the Playoff’s Round of 8 at Kansas Speedway and has had three weeks to prepare for the title race—assured of his chance to race for the championship.
He and Paul Wolfe are the only driver/crew chief combination in the final four where both have won NASCAR Cup championships. Wolfe won his title in 2012 as crew chief for Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski.
Logano won the Championship 4 race in 2018, beating Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
“I think the experience is there, the speed is there,” Logano said on Thursday during a Zoom question-and-answer session with reporters. “I think the mentality of the way we race is there. I truly believe that we’re the favorites to win this thing.
“Like I said, that’s important to me to feel that way. I feel like I have real things to back that up, which is good.”
He and Wolfe are of the same mind.
“Believing in yourself, right? Our tag line the whole time since this Playoff started,” Logano said. “I came up with a list of six or seven things I thought was the most important things for a team to be able to rally behind. I brought that list to Paul. I said, ‘What is the most important thing on this list to you that makes a great team? These are the things we had to do to try to become a stronger team.’
“He saw the word ‘believe’. He said that’s the biggest thing. We’ve got to believe in each other. We’ve got to believe in ourselves. We’ve got to believe we can win. We’ve got to believe we’re the best. Be humble to work and find gains but believe in us. That was the word that we all rallied behind.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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