Logano hasn’t had a great start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup season. He only finished in the top 10 once in the first six races. He also had four finishes where he ended up 22nd or worse and even had to retire from two races.
He wasn’t sure what to expect at Richmond, but things started well when he made it to the final round of qualifying on Saturday, guaranteeing him a start in the top 10.
During Sunday’s race, Logano did well. He stayed in the top 10 or top five for most of the race. Thanks to a late race caution, he got one more chance to try and win the race during an overtime restart.
Even though he didn’t win, coming in second and having a clean race was a big relief after his tough start to the season.
“I had a chance. I didn’t get a good enough restart,” Logano said. “It feels good to be towards the front again. We haven’t had a run like that in a while, but it also stings to be that close and not capitalize on the win. I guess I have mixed emotions.”
Logano has had tough starts to seasons before, but this year has been especially hard.
Although the result at Richmond didn’t change much in terms of his standings—he moved from 22nd to 19th in the series—combined with a decent 11th-place finish last weekend at Circuit of the Americas, Logano’s had his best two weeks of the season so far.
“This is definitely the hardest start to a season we’ve had, but last week we started scratching and clawing and got a little bit of momentum and ultimately get to here to where we were in the hunt again,” Logano said. “It feels good.”
He added, “It’s Richmond. It’s a unique race track. It’s our best race track as a team, so we expect to run well here. I don’t know if this completely takes us out of the deep end, but I think ultimately, it’s a good momentum-builder for sure.”
Also read: Joey Logano Tops Denny Hamlin in NASCAR Cup Practice at Phoenix
