{"id":51585,"date":"2025-05-04T22:28:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T03:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=51585"},"modified":"2025-05-04T22:53:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T03:53:25","slug":"logano-realizes-redemption-via-overtime-nascar-victory-at-texas-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/04\/logano-realizes-redemption-via-overtime-nascar-victory-at-texas-motor-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Logano realizes redemption via overtime NASCAR victory at Texas Motor Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio<\/em><\/p>\n

FORT WORTH _ Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano rallied from a controversial disqualification one week ago to claim victory in Sunday\u2019s W\u00fcrth 400 presented by LUQUI MOLY at Texas Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Which begs this question for NASCAR officials: Can Joey have the spoiler from his No. 22 Ford at Talladega Superspeedway back now?<\/p>\n

A three-time Cup champion with Team Penske, Logano patiently survived a chaotic afternoon triggered by 12 caution flags to bag his first victory of the 2025 Cup season. The climatic, two-lap overtime dash extended the race distance from 267 to 271 laps around TMS\u2019 high-banked\/1.5-mile oval.<\/p>\n

Logano led only seven laps en route to a 0.346-second margin of victory over Ross Chastain\u2019s Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, with Ryan Blaney crossing third in another Penske Ford. Kyle Larson finished fourth in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with Erik Jones completing the top-five in a Toyota fielded by Legacy Motor Club.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, does a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

More to the moment, Logano\u2019s 37th<\/sup> career Cup victory and 35th<\/sup> with the Blue Oval served as the perfect comeback statement following his DQ from last Sunday\u2019s Jack Link\u2019s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>I mean, there\u2019s always a story next week, right?\u201d said Logano, 34, and driver of the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang Dark Horse. \u201cI told my wife (Brittany Baca) last week before we left, I said, \u2018Watch, we\u2019ll go win this one.\u2019 It\u2019s just how we do stuff. Any time you kick us down, I feel like we come back 10 times harder, whatever that is in us. Definitely had a fast car today, and like I said, it\u2019s nice to change the storyline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Logano, who originally finished fifth on Talladega\u2019s high-banked\/2.66-mile oval, was relegated to 39th<\/sup> on Tuesday after NASCAR\u2019s garage police discovered two violations on the rear spoiler of the No. 22 Ford. At superspeedway races, NASCAR requires a specific brace to help maintain the required spoiler angle at high-speed.<\/p>\n

NASCAR\u2019s post-race inspection found that a nut was missing from the bolt that keeps the brace intact. Secondly, a fastener on the brace was not secured and maintained. Both violations could potentially cause deflection in the spoiler when the cars reach high-speeds.<\/p>\n

Logano exited the Alabama facility with a total of 41 points and first top-five finish of the season. The DQ, however, dropped him to last in the running order, with only one point added to his season total.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, won the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

In an apparent bid for transparency, NASCAR had the spoilers from both Logano\u2019s Ford and the No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Mustang of Ryan Preece on display at TMS on Saturday. Additionally, Brad Moran, managing director for the Cup Series, met with media outside NASCAR\u2019s competition hauler to explain the separate issues involving two spoilers that led to the aforementioned Ford teams forfeiting top-five finishes.<\/p>\n

Logano admittedly had struggled during the season\u2019s first 10 races, posting one top-10 and an average finish of 19.7. The Talladega penalty dropped him to 11th in the championship standings; barring the DQ, Logano would have been eighth heading into \u201cThe Great American Speedway.\u201d Logano\u2019s frustration continued here Saturday, when he qualified 27th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Members of Joey Logano’s crew celebrate in Victory Lane after Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

So, how did \u201cSliced Bread\u201d wind up in Victory Lane, wearing a black cowboy hat? \u201cSlowly. Methodically,\u201d Logano joked. \u201cA couple of times we had a really tough pit stall situation and the pit crew did a good job of managing that. We just grabbed a couple (positions) here and there. The car was fast, I knew that yesterday, I just did a poor job qualifying. We just were grinding it out, a couple here and a couple there and eventually we get the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to\u2026after what happened last week to be able to rebound and come right back, it was a total No. 22 way of doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, won the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Paul Wolfe, Logano\u2019s crew chief, reiterated he knew the car was warp-speed fast after Saturday morning\u2019s lone practice session. \u201cBut I wasn\u2019t sure if the track would widen-out and give us the opportunity to show what we had,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cWe chipped away at it all day long, and the track was pretty racy. I thought if you had a good car, you could slowly make your way to the front.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoey did what he typically does at the end of these races when you put him in position. There\u2019s nobody better at it than him. He just continues to show us that as we go along here. It\u2019s exciting to be part of, and I\u2019m glad we could get our first win of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, won the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition, Wolfe termed the week-long buzz surrounding Logano\u2019s DQ an \u201cunfortunate\u201d distraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, wins heal a lot of things and fix a lot of problems,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cYou know, we\u2019re not proud of what happened there. It was nothing intentional. It was really a learning moment, like I\u2019ve told all the guys in our meetings this week. We know what happened, or we have a pretty good idea what happened, and we need to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen again and move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, we have great partners and owners that understand that sometimes it\u2019s just part of the sport, and we\u2019re all working on the edge. It\u2019s hard to compete if you\u2019re not and trying to get all you can. We\u2019ve continued to look forward from that, and I think that showed this weekend our focus was on continuing to bring fast cars and put ourselves in position. Yes, it feels good, and we\u2019ve put that behind us and learned from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, celebrates with his race team after winning the NASCAR Cup Series W\u00fcrth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 04, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Michael McDowell of Spire Motorsports emerged from a group of Larson, Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Logano to charge into the lead after a restart on Lap 245. McDowell held the point through two cautions and restarts before Logano passed the No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet on Lap 264 low and down the backstretch for the lead. Blaney followed suit into second, with McDowell losing control in the dirty air wake created by the No. 12 Menards\/Knauf Ford. McDowell slammed into the Turn 2 wall, then immediately apologized to his team over the radio.<\/p>\n

Blaney, meanwhile, was left to second-guess his decision-making at the race\u2019s pivotal moment. \u201cThe one time I didn\u2019t pick the outside the No. 71 got the lead and then I couldn\u2019t get it back,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cJust driver making dumb decisions and not doing his job. I appreciate the team. The No. 12 car was a fast car today. I just can\u2019t do anything right currently. Hopefully it will work itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Logano made short work of the overtime restart, distancing himself from Blaney before Chastain and his No. 1 Tooties Orchid Lounge Chevrolet materialized in his rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting 31st, we wanted to go plus-30 positions today,\u201d Chastain said. \u201cIt\u2019s all on this crew _ the engineering group at Trackhouse Racing and the group at Chevrolet. We made an adjustment during the race and it fixed the car. All the problems we had (Saturday when he qualified 31st<\/sup>) and the start of the race, they were gone. I was confident. I was not confident yesterday. With just one adjustment, it brought this Tooties Chevy to life and that\u2019s why you keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

That win automatically qualified Logano and his crew for NASCAR\u2019s season-ending Playoff rounds. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I would characterize it as a sigh of relief, but rather, it reduces the pressure,\u201d said Walt Czarnecki, vice chairman of Team Penske. \u201cThe fact that here we are, I think this is 11th race of the year, and we got two cars (Logano and Talladega winner Austin Cindric) in already for the Playoffs. So, it allows the team to, I won\u2019t say freewheel, but to be able to do some things that they might not have been otherwise to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, the mission is to get Ryan Blaney into the Playoffs. Blaney\u2019s time is coming, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

This moment, however, clearly belonged to Logano and a No. 22 crew methodically hell-bent on making a statement. \u201cI think any time somebody says something about you, you can use it as motivation, whether it\u2019s good or bad,\u201d Logano said. \u201cWhen you have some negative comments and things like that, you have a chip on your shoulder. \u2018Well, I\u2019ll prove you wrong.\u2019 You want that story. It\u2019s cool, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I don\u2019t feel like I put more effort in one week over the others, but I think subconsciously there\u2019s something that happens. Something happens in the Playoffs. There\u2019s something that happens when someone says something to you, right? I think everyone in here can probably relate to that at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/p>\n

NCS Race Winner Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford) –<\/p>\n

NCS Winning Team Paul Wolfe (Crew Chief) and Walt Czarnecki (Vice Chairman, Team Penske) –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/22NCS050425.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – W\u00fcrth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY<\/b><\/p>\n

Texas Motor Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Fort Worth, Texas<\/b><\/p>\n

Sunday, May 4, 2025<\/b><\/p>\n

                1. (27)  Joey Logano, Ford, 271.<\/p>\n

                2. (31)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                3. (24)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 271.<\/p>\n

                4. (4)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                5. (14)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 271.<\/p>\n

                6. (34)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                7. (19)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                8. (28)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 271.<\/p>\n

                9. (16)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 271.<\/p>\n

                10. (25)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                11. (32)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 271.<\/p>\n

                12. (23)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                13. (2)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                14. (21)  Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 271.<\/p>\n

                15. (15)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                16. (29)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                17. (13)  Zane Smith, Ford, 271.<\/p>\n

                18. (12)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 271.<\/p>\n

                19. (20)  Cole Custer, Ford, 271.<\/p>\n

                20. (26)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                21. (17)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 271.<\/p>\n

                22. (37)  Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                23. (6)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 271.<\/p>\n

                24. (1)  Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 270.<\/p>\n

                25. (3)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 268.<\/p>\n

                26. (5)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, Accident, 265.<\/p>\n

                27. (22)  Chase Briscoe, Toyota, Suspension, 254.<\/p>\n

                28. (30)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 246.<\/p>\n

                29. (33)  Ryan Preece, Ford, Accident, 237.<\/p>\n

                30. (36)  Cody Ware, Ford, Accident, 237.<\/p>\n

                31. (35)  Jesse Love(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 217.<\/p>\n

                32. (7)  Josh Berry, Ford, 187.<\/p>\n

                33. (9)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 179.<\/p>\n

                34. (18)  Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 172.<\/p>\n

                35. (11)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.<\/p>\n

                36. (10)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.<\/p>\n

                37. (38)  Chad Finchum, Ford, Accident, 167.<\/p>\n

                38. (8)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Engine, 73.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  116.885 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 28 Mins, 40 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .346 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  12 for 73 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  20 among 13 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Hocevar 1-22;D. Hamlin 23;A. Cindric 24-73;T. Reddick 74;A. Cindric 75-83;J. Berry 84-124;K. Larson 125-126;A. Cindric 127;T. Gilliland 128-131;K. Larson 132-166;A. Bowman 167;W. Byron 168-189;K. Larson 190-220;J. Nemechek 221;K. Larson 222-243;M. McDowell 244-252;R. Blaney 253;M. McDowell 254-263;J. Logano 264-268;R. Blaney 269;J. Logano 270-271.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Larson 4 times for 90 laps; Austin Cindric 3 times for 60 laps; Josh Berry 1 time for 41 laps; William Byron 1 time for 22 laps; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 22 laps; Michael McDowell 2 times for 19 laps; Joey Logano 2 times for 7 laps; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 4 laps; Ryan Blaney 2 times for 2 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 1 lap; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 1 lap; Tyler Reddick 1 time for 1 lap; Alex Bowman 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,45,21,5,17,77,24,54,71,43<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,45,48,60,23,77,24,12,22,8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio FORT WORTH _ Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano rallied from a controversial disqualification one week ago to claim victory in Sunday\u2019s W\u00fcrth 400 presented by LUQUI MOLY at Texas Motor Speedway. Which begs this question for NASCAR officials: Can Joey have the spoiler from his No. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":678,"featured_media":51550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[154,16,21],"class_list":["post-51585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-texas-motor-speedway","tag-joey-logano","tag-nascar","tag-texas-motor-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AM1I0073a-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-dq1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/678"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51585"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51596,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51585\/revisions\/51596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}