Joey Logano sees Gateway as pivotal race in quest for playoffs: ‘We don’t have any mulligans left’

MADISON, Ill. -- Joey Logano is good at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Like, really good. Two races are a small sample size, but he and Kyle Busch are the only drivers to have podium finishes in the first two Cup races at the Illinois oval. Logano points to short tracks as Team Penske’s strongpoint. Measured at 1.25 miles, Gateway doesn’t quite fall under that category, but there is plenty of throttle management through the long straightaways and tight corners. Neither side of the race track looks the same. "Our team excels where you have to get out of the gas pedal, and here there is a lot of speed variance from the straightaway into Turn 1 to where you are in Turn 2," Logano said Saturday. "You’re on the brakes hard. I know it’s a long track, but we still call it a short track because you have to use the brakes and you have to do different things. "You don’t drive it like a mile-and-a-half. You drive it like a short track, like a Loudon or Richmond where you can fall it into that category which is better for us." MORE: Weekend schedule for Gateway, Portland Entering Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Logano ranks 18th on the playoff grid, 30 points below the elimination line, currently held by a surging Chris Buescher. Four months ago, it would have been hard to imagine the two-time Cup Series champion missing the postseason. But that possibility is becoming increasingly possible with each passing week. Through 14 races, Logano has just three top-10 finishes. He is on pace for his fewest top-10 total since joining Team Penske in 2013. The No. 22 team has led 199 laps, the same amount he led en route to winning the exhibition NASCAR All-Star Race two weeks ago at North Wilkesboro Speedway. That wasn’t a points race, however, and Logano followed it up by earning 23 points in the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend, in a race where teams could score a maximum of 70 points. In the previous three races combined entering Gateway, he has scored a whopping 49 points. His six straight races without top 10s is the longest streak of his Penske tenure. MORE: Logano's career through the years But there are signals of optimism. After Gateway, the Cup Series heads to a repaved Sonoma Raceway before a trip to Iowa Speedway, where the No. 22 team expects to be competitive. After that is New Hampshire, a track at which Logano has top-five finishes in three of the last four races, including a runner-up result last season. "The next four weeks or so line up pretty good for the [No.] 22, we just have to capitalize on that," Logano said. "We don’t have any mulligans left at this point with where we are in points. We have to get up in points, get all the points we possibly can, win a race if possible. "I look at this [Gateway] as one of the strongest the last two times we’ve been here. First and third, so I feel like we should have a good spot." So far so good, with the No. 22 Ford being fastest in practice. He was the lone Penske driver to miss the final round of qualifying and will take the green flag from 12th position. RELATED: Sunday's starting lineup