“I’m not a robot”: Joey Logano shares his take on NASCAR taking away $50,000 from his pocket as penalty

Joey Logano expressed his feelings after NASCAR fined him for his pit road antics at the Richmond Raceway. Although the Ford pilot seems to be at peace with the fine, he did feel like he got robbed of what could have been his second win of the season.

During the last lap of the Cook Out 400, Dillon bumped Logano into the outside wall after the latter had jumped him following the final and only caution of the 400-mile race. Logano was leading the field back then. Unfortunately, the Team Penske driver had to settle for a disappointing P19 finish.

As a means of letting it out, a fuming Logano spun the tires hard against the brakes on a hot pit road, almost running over a group of people, including Austin Dillon's wife and kid. According to NASCAR, the way he vented his anger violated the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct on the pit road. Therefore, he was charged $50,000 for the same.

However, in a recent conversation with NASCAR on NBC, Joey Logano admitted that he probably shouldn't have acted the way he did.

"Here's the greatest analogy I thought of this week," Logano said. "What if someone broke into your house and took all your stuff? And then, like a minute and a half later, you saw them all dancing and having your stuff. How would you react? That's just an emotional thing. I'm not a robot; I'm a human."

"I probably didn't handle it the way I should have. Good thing is no one got hurt and we move forward from there. I accept the fine. I sent it to their bank and off I go. Obviously, it's a frustrating thing; we never got the win back, right? You still feel like you got robbed, but it is what it is," he added.

Nevertheless, Joey Logano's win on June 30, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway locked him in this year's playoff rumble. As of today, he sits 15th in the Cup Series standings with 557 points to his name. His next race is at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan on August 18th (2:30 PM ET, USA Network, NBC Sports).

Joey Logano opens up on Austin Dillon's penalty

Joey Logano during practice and qualifying for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway (Source: Imagn)

It wasn't just Joey Logano that Austin Dillon wrecked before taking the checkered flag. The #3 driver nudged Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Denny Hamlin as well. Two days later, NASCAR penalized Dillon for taking out his fellow racers on purpose. Dillon was allowed to keep his win, but it was announced that the win wouldn't serve as an automatic ticket to the playoffs.

Furthermore, Dillon was docked 25 points from both driver's and owner's standings. His spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races for allegedly radioing the words 'wreck him' to Dillon as he battled Hamlin.

Reflecting on Dillon's penalty, Joey Logano told NASCAR,

"Is it right that the win was taken away? Absolutely, or at least the stuff that goes along with it that matters. Did it make it right for me? No, I’m still sitting here last car on the lead lap after all that, so it’s still not right in my book. But what are they going to do, right? It kind of puts them in a tough spot.".

The penalty pushed Dillon from P26 in the Cup Series standings to 31st. Currently, he owns 319 points. While both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin are locked in the playoffs, Dillon will need another win to make it. With that said, he has just three races to get the job done before the Round of 16 openers kick off at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8.