Joey Logano channels 'Jimmie Johnson mentality' with a fearless declaration of winning it all

Joey Logano walked into Martinsville Speedway this weekend with the same mindset that’s carried him through three NASCAR Cup Series titles - confidence, conviction, and no room for doubt. The 35-year-old rejected the idea that dominance has an expiry date, recalling the feats of seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

With only two Championship 4 spots left, both Team Penske drivers are in must-win situations. But before Sunday’s Xfinity 500, Logano said he still believes he can win every single race. When asked about whether he ever tells himself, “You can’t win every year”, Logano replied in the pre-race press conference:

“You can. I mean, that’s honestly that’s what I would tell my kids. Yeah, you can win every game. You can win every race. You have the opportunity to win all of them... Jimmie Johnson won five in a row. So, I guess you can, right?” (12:29 onwards)

Team Penske has dominated the modern era of NASCAR. Since 2022, Logano and the No. 22 team and Blaney and his No. 12 team delivered back-to-back-to-back Cup Series titles, with Logano winning in 2022 and 2024, and Blaney claiming his first in 2023.

(L-R) 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 drivers: William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Tyler Reddick. Source: Getty

But this year, the Penske camp has faced its toughest test yet. Both drivers enter Martinsville outside the cutline, with Logano 38 points adrift and Ryan Blaney 47 points down. With just two spots open for Phoenix, both need a win on Sunday to have a fair shot at keeping the organization’s four-year title streak alive.

Johnson’s five consecutive titles from 2006 to 2010 stand as one of the sport’s most dominant streaks. Joey Logano, meanwhile, sits among the few drivers with three or more titles. But he made it clear he has no intention of easing up.

“Just because you’ve won three in the past doesn’t mean you’re all set and you can just coast in the rest of your career,” he added. “I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to do that to my team either, or my fans, or my sponsors, to Roger (Penske). Like, I can win them all. That’s at least better be my attitude. Like I know that’s never happened before, that someone’s won 36 races, but I promise you I try to win 36 of them.” (13:02 onwards)

Martinsville, however, hasn’t been kind to him lately. Despite a stellar 12-race streak of top-10 finishes at the Virginia short track, the fourth-longest in track history, Joey Logano hasn’t won on the short track since 2018.

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Joey Logano ready for a short-track fight at Martinsville

Joey Logano (22) during the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 practice. Source: Imagn

Joey Logano enters Martinsville with 12 consecutive top-10s, which has often made the difference late in the playoffs. But the margin for error is gone for both him and teammate Ryan Blaney. Below the cutline, they join William Byron (-36) and Chase Elliott (-62) as the four drivers who must win to secure one of the final two Championship 4 spots.

Logano looked solid in Saturday’s practice, placing inside the top 10 as teams adapted to the new left-side Goodyear tires. Then came qualifying, where William Byron's 19.286s lap edged Ty Gibbs by two-thousandths of a second for pole positions. Logano wasn’t far behind with his 19.322s run, securing him a second row spot, just ahead of Denny Hamlin and behind Kyle Larson, who starts third.

Track position at Martinsville means everything. Starting near the front gives Logano the advantage he needs in a race expected to feature heavy traffic, worn tires, and frequent restarts. In contrast, his teammate Blaney faces a steeper climb from 31st, while Elliott starts eighth and Byron leads the field.

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Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar