Joey Logano: These guys are good – and getting better

Joey Logano races for position during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 26, 2016 in Sonoma, California.
Joey Logano races for position during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 26, 2016 in Sonoma, California.
Joey Logano races for position during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 26, 2016 in Sonoma, California.

SONOMA, Calif. – Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 wasn’t the knock-down, drag-out free-for-all fans have come to expect at Sonoma Raceway in recent years, although it did peg the drama meter with race winner Tony Stewart’s last-lap duel with runner-up Denny Hamlin.

Third-place finisher Joey Logano has an explanation why drivers didn’t rough each other up on Sunday. Quite simply, they’re getting the hang of road course racing.

“In all honesty I think it’s because everyone is getting better,” Logano said after the race. “A lot of the crashes in the past have been because the cars are wheel-hopping into the corner and they can’t stop and they hit somebody. Most of the time that’s what it is. There’s still plenty of contact, but everybody has gotten better at this road course racing – not just drivers, but race teams and getting their cars better and their brakes better and the setups better.

“Not that the cars have become easier to drive. They’re still very challenging to drive here, but it seems like we’ve all gotten better and know how to handle a lot of the situations on the race track and all have learned how to race a little bit better out here. Like I said, there’s still plenty of contact and bumping and banging. My car is hit on each corner, but it definitely was a fun race and it’s always been a fun race here at Sonoma.”

In particular, Logano had fun over the final 14 laps when he charged from sixth to third after a restart and enjoyed a front-row seat for the decisive battle between Stewart and Hamlin on the final lap.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.