"I could have tried to hit him harder" - Joey Logano talks about what he could have done differently for Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway

Joey Logano made a remarkable comeback at Martinsville Speedway last weekend after an average finish at Richmond Raceway. He finished in second place, a huge jump from his 17th place finish at Richmond.

Logano waited for the green flag on pole 14, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske and working his way to the runner-up position. The race ended in two-lap overtime, with William Byron holding the lead on the final lap.

On Twitter, Logano mentioned that he was very close to taking the victory at Martinsville Speedway.

In a post-race interview, Joey Logano hinted at what he could have done differently if time was to be rewound at Martinsville Speedway. Logano said:

“I could have tried to hit him harder. That might have been what I needed to do. William did a good job of executing up front on the restart there. I was able to get to him because he made a mistake off of four taking the white flag and I thought, ‘OK, this is my chance.’ My car didn’t fire off real fast, but kind of gave me the opportunity to get to him.”

Joey Logano has been missing from the winning stage since NASCAR’s pre-season race at the LA Coliseum on February 6th, where he emerged as the winner. Since then, he has only finished in the top five once in Las Vegas, where he finished fifth.

How did Joey Logano perform at NASCAR Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway?

Having finished the Martinsville race in the runner-up position, Logano began exhibiting signs of taking control on stage one. He came all the way from pole 14 to the top ten at the end of stage one.

On Twitter, Team Penske gave the results after the end of stage one, stating that it was not a bad ending.

His energy stayed consistent, and he was committed to taking the lead before the end of the race. At the end of Stage Two, Logano was sitting in the top five, ending stage two on pole 3 ahead of Ryan Blaney.

Stage three went green, with Byron taking the lead from Chase Elliott on lap 280. Logano edged out Elliott to take second place as Elliott dropped to the fifth position. With 50 laps to go, Austin Dillon took second place from Logano.

With seven laps remaining, caution was called, with Byron beginning at the green and Logano regaining second place. The two were running wheel-to-wheel before the No. 24 driver cleared Logano with one lap left and drove all the way to the victory lane before Logano took second place.