“He’s getting a little frustrated” - Denny Hamlin on Joey Logano being the only winless Penske driver

Denny Hamlin recently shared his take on Joey Logano being winless this season in his team. After Ryan Blaney won at Iowa Speedway recently, and Austin Cindric capitalized on the #12 running out of fuel at Gateway, Logano remains the only driver in Roger Penske's team this season without a win.

Speaking on the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin claimed that Team Penske are going through "a good stretch" except for the situation with Logano.

"You still got Joey Logano looking for his first win of the season. You can kinda see in his interviews, he’s getting a little frustrated that he’s not up front more than what he is. Clearly, the #12 has been the flag bearer for Penske for the greater part of a year now. And the #22 is one little step behind at that speed. Still a good showing for #22, just didn’t quite have the speed that he was looking for," Hamlin said. [29:52 onwards]

This led Hamlin's co-host Jared Allen to ask if Joey Logano was getting worried and thinking about other drivers being 22 points outside the cutline.

Hamlin said, "yes and no", as he claimed that when a driver is on the bubble, he shouldn't focus "too much on the others." But at the same time, the driver should also keep an eye out for that one driver who could change the playoff picture with just one good day, he added.

"You always gotta count for at least one more driver outside the current playoff window to win a race so the cutline would move you would think one more spot," Hamlin expressed.

But Denny Hamlin further mentioned that in his opinion, of all the bubble drivers currently, it is Joey Logano who has "the biggest upside" given his car, his team, and him as a driver.

"They’ve underperformed compared to what their standards are from a few years ago. So I think to me they’re the most dangerous bubble team to winning for these other drivers," Hamlin added.

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When was the last time Joey Logano won a Cup race?

Despite being one of the most successful and talented drivers of his era, Joey Logano hasn't been to the victory lane in quite some time.

After he won his second Cup title in the 2022 season, Logano started off the 2023 season with a runner-up finish at the Daytona 500, a top 10 in Fontana, and a top 20 finish in Phoenix. He followed that up with a win at Atlanta on March 19th, 2023.

That was the most recent instance of Logano winning a Cup race, close to a year and a half ago, or nearly 50 races ago.

It's worth mentioning that Joey Logano did win a NASCAR race this season. But it was the All-Star race that earned him one million dollars but not any points or more importantly, a ticket in the playoffs this season.