In the first five races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Joey Logano’s year got off to a nightmarish start.
Buried 26th in points with only one top-20 finish to show for his efforts, Logano was facing a serious climb to get back into playoff contention.
Yet one month later, thanks to a few faster cars and some good fortune, Logano finds himself back above the playoff cut line.
After a chaotic race at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, Logano now stands 15th in overall points. Although the No. 22 team still has work to do, their prospects for 2024 are looking a whole lot brighter.
To be fair to Logano and Team Penske, their initial struggles this season were not for a lack of fast cars. Logano led 45 laps in the Daytona 500 and arguably had the best car, but a crash while battling for the lead on lap 191 ended his shot at victory. Things got worse at Atlanta Motor Speedway the next week.
Half a lap from the end of stage two, Logano threw a late block on Chris Buescher, triggering a stack-up that sent the No. 22 into the wall nose first. That made two races where Logano looked like a potential winner but came away with nothing more than a wrecked car.
The No. 22 team then soldiered to a top 10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but encountered more trouble the next two races. Logano was struggling at Phoenix Raceway when he got collected in a multi-car fracas shortly after a restart on lap 203.
Bristol Motor Speedway brought little comfort as Logano battled an ill-handling car. He almost managed to win stage two, but heavy tire wear shuffled the field several times over the course of the afternoon. When the music stopped, he was outside the top 20 again.
Over the last four weeks, Logano and his team have recovered nicely, posting four consecutive finishes of 11th or better and throwing in 25 stage points for good measure. As a result, Logano has gained 11 positions in points in four races. His recent run is a reminder that circumstances can change quickly in the early weeks, and that drivers who struggle in the first races of the year are not necessarily doomed to a bad season.
Among Logano’s last four races, his second-place run at Richmond Raceway was the most pivotal. His turnaround may have begun at Circuit of the Americas a week earlier, but Richmond was the first race this year at a non-drafting track where it looked like Logano had a real shot at victory. He never led a lap but did steadily work his way…
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