LOUDON, N.H. – There’s no place like home, and for New England native Joey Logano — currently on the outside of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture looking in — New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a sight for sore eyes.
The Team Penske driver has been mired in a nine-race slump since claiming an encumbered win at Richmond Raceway that has seen the typical front-runner average a finish of 21.78 over that span. For context, his average finish for the entire season the past two years is 9.2 and 10.5, respectively. His place in the standings since Richmond has slipped from fifth to 12th.
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Knowing he’s averaged a finish of 4.4 over the past five races at the “Magic Mile” — including a 2014 win that helped propel him to his eventual place in the finale at Homestead — the already-jovial Logano was especially beaming while meeting with media Friday morning.
“This race track has always been a special place for me because it is home,” Logano said. “I started my first Cup race here, watched my first one here, won our first one here. It makes it a special place anytime I come here. … It is one of the most special places to win. When we won that race a couple of years ago, I look at that as the biggest win of my career. Bigger than the (2015) Daytona 500 to me. That is what this track means to me. If we can make it happen again — we will try our hardest and hopefully get it.”
MORE: Logano’s career stats at New Hampshire
The fact that Logano is nearly in need of an eligible win at this point — he could still get in on points, sitting just seven points behind Matt Kenseth for the final spot, but that window is shrinking — comes as a surprise to not only NASCAR Nation, but the Penske driver, himself.
He hasn’t gone this deep into a season without a playoff-eligible win since 2013, his first with the Penske organization.
“Very surprised. This isn’t what you expect when you start the season,” he said. “You go out there expecting to win the championship and the playoffs you just assume you would be there. I still assume we are going to be there. We just have to work hard to get there.
“A lot of times you kind of take (being in the playoffs) for granted in a way. The last few years you are thinking about winning (the championship). Right now, we are thinking about needing to get in (to the playoffs) first. The mindset has changed a little bit but that is just a situation that we are in after a few bad races. Our team is still capable of winning. We do have to get a little more speed in our cars; I think that is apparent.”
It’d be easy to point to the Richmond penalty — the No. 22 team was assessed an L1-level infraction for a rear suspension violation and crew chief Todd Gordon was suspended for two races — as the spark of the tailspin. After all, a race team has a tangible psyche that can be charged up or shaken at any moment, and there are few instances more deflating than a race win being deemed ineligible.
But Logano has been adamant that wasn’t a factor, and his tune hadn’t changed Friday.
RELATED: Logano talks about infraction, crew chief suspension
“That is the unfortunate part; (the illegal adjustment) wasn’t something we were trying to do, it was something that happened after the race and it was one-32nd of an inch,” Logano said. “It wasn’t making our car faster. It wasn’t something that is taking away from the rest of these races. After Richmond, we had three crashes in a row.
“There were some different modifications to our bodies that NASCAR started regulating that took some performance away from our cars and we have to try to make that up. That is kind of the biggest thing right now. … It is nothing from Richmond that would affect what happened. It is easy to assume that though, I agree. If I was on the outside looking in, I would say the exact same thing, but it is not. I promise you that. It is not that simple. It never is in our sport.”
If it’s any consolation to Logano and Co., the fact that the penalty wasn’t a result of trying to game the system for more speed implies that he will be in position to contend for another Richmond win in the regular season finale — if it comes down to a do-or-die scenario.
Should he find himself in said situation, he’s been there before and knows his team is up to the task.
“I think of Phoenix last year. We went into that race do or die and we won. Talladega was the same thing. Do or die and we won. We are going to get in a situation that is do or die and I have more faith in this team that it is going to happen than not. This team rises to the occasion for sure. When the pressure is on, they show up.
“We still have a lot of races before we get there though,” said Logano. “When you put this team in a do-or-die situation, this is the team I want to drive for.”