Logano Navigates Career-Worst Slump with Unwavering Focus and Resilience

Joey Logano, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, is currently enduring what is widely regarded as his most challenging season with Team Penske, and potentially the most difficult stretch of his entire Cup Series career dating back to his debut in 2009. Despite the statistical downturn, the driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang remains remarkably resilient and focused, attributing his current struggles to a combination of evolving competition and the inherent challenges of the NextGen car platform, rather than any internal breakdown.

The statistics paint a stark picture of the 36-year-old’s performance this season. Logano’s last victory came on May 4, 2025, at Texas Motor Speedway, marking a significant drought that has stretched for over a year. His season has been punctuated by inconsistent performances, with the team occasionally struggling to qualify within the top 25 and enduring on-track incidents, such as the pit road collision with Cole Custer at Texas. Beyond these miscues, standard bad luck has also played a role.

In 15 starts this season, Logano has secured only two top-five finishes – a runner-up at Daytona and a third-place finish at Martinsville – and a total of five top-10 results. While the No. 22 Ford has shown flashes of competitiveness, including a sixth-place qualifying effort at Watkins Glen and recent finishes of eighth at Charlotte, fourteenth at Nashville, and seventh at Michigan, these performances have not translated into consistent front-running speed or victories. This level of output stands in stark contrast to the pedigree of a driver who has achieved 43 career wins and two championships with Team Penske.

The current performance dip is not entirely isolated to Logano and his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, who has been instrumental in two of Logano’s championships. The broader Team Penske organization and Ford Performance have also faced headwinds. Logano currently sits 17th in the championship standings, a precarious position just three points ahead of teammate Austin Cindric. Even Josh Berry, a driver with a close association to the Penske program, has been informed he will not return to Wood Brothers Racing next season, underscoring the challenges faced by Ford-affiliated teams, with Berry currently 30th in the standings.

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However, the narrative within Team Penske is not one of finger-pointing. Instead, there is a palpable sense of shared responsibility and mutual trust. Logano, speaking with Motorsport.com, emphasized that while past successes provide confidence, they cannot be a crutch. "No, it is a great question though," Logano stated. "It’s somewhere in between because if you rest on your past, you’ll be stuck in your past because the facts are, everyone’s evolving and everyone’s getting better, so you have to keep evolving." He stressed the need for innovation, adding, "You have to look for new ways to do things to, whether it’s processes, or the cars, whatever it may be. We got to think outside the box a little bit to find some direction."

This sentiment is echoed by the understanding between Logano and Wolfe. "What makes it easier is the fact that we can look at each other and say, ‘okay, we’ve both won three championships and we know how to do this.’ We’ve both won 30 whatever races, right? We know how to win. We just have to find a new way of doing it and figure out how to get there," Logano explained. This shared history of success, he believes, provides a crucial foundation of confidence. "So it’s somewhere in between. If we had never won before, we would be pretty down, but we believe in ourselves and have confidence. We just have to stick together."

The performance gap within Team Penske is particularly noteworthy given the success of Ryan Blaney, Logano’s teammate in the No. 12 Ford. Blaney is currently third in the championship standings, piloting what is ostensibly the same equipment. Logano acknowledged the stark difference, stating, "Yeah, I mean it’s an open notebook. We all look at each other’s stuff." He lauded Blaney’s development, calling him "probably the best driver on the racetrack in my opinion. He’s always been really, really fast and that’s not a surprise but now he puts whole races together consistently, when he wasn’t always able to do that before."

Logano admitted that the team has explored various avenues to bridge this performance gap. "So now he does that and he’s really, really good. His way is different but we have to figure out how to close the gap or figure out my way of doing it. We’ve all tried every set-up approach we could try at this point. Obviously, we are not that stubborn, Paul or me. We just want to win. We don’t care if it’s my way, his way, or what the 12 is doing. We just have to figure out the combination that works for me."

Despite the challenges, Logano is not pointing fingers at Ford Performance, especially with RFK Racing cars also demonstrating consistent top-10 finishes. He highlighted that this is an even-numbered year, a period traditionally marked by his greatest success, adding another layer of intrigue to the current season. Furthermore, Logano maintains his belief that a turnaround is still possible in the latter half of the season, a pattern his teams have exhibited in previous championship years.

The introduction of the NextGen car has presented a unique set of circumstances. "I mean, listen, this NextGen car, you’ve got what you got so what are you going to do," Logano commented. "We can’t go reshape the fenders, we can’t go do all this crazy stuff. We’re boxed right now. So the design of the new car is incredibly important for the success of Ford when we get it. But we are still trying to win this year, right? It’s not like this is a limbo year or something like that so don’t take it that direction. We are still trying to get the most out of this thing and there are years where we have turned it around quickly."

However, Logano is acutely aware that the current playoff format offers little room for error. Even a significant rally to 10th in the regular season standings would place him 10 points behind drivers like Tyler Reddick or Denny Hamlin heading into the Chase for the Championship, making a fourth title a statistically daunting prospect.

Yet, the champion’s spirit remains unbroken. "I get it, but it’s still possible, right?" Logano asserted. "We’re not out. We’re down but we are not out. And this team is pretty resilient. We keep grinding. Every year we won the championship, around this time of year, I tell my wife that I just hope to make the playoffs and then we pop right back into place. There’s still a chance." His unwavering belief in his team’s ability to overcome adversity and his own determination to extract maximum performance from the No. 22 Ford continue to define his approach, even amidst the most challenging period of his decorated NASCAR career.