Joey Logano revisits his winless streak-ending Nashville victory under miraculous circumstances

After an unprecedented five overtime restarts, Joey Logano won his first points race of the season at the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 30, securing a spot in the playoffs. He edged out Spire Motorsports rookie Zane Smith by just 0.068 seconds, snapping his 49-race winless streak, while Tyler Reddick, one of Denny Hamlin's drivers, took third place.

Team Penske’s Logano, who went through the final 110 laps on the 1.33-mile concrete oval without a pit stop, saw a nail-biting finish. He later revealed that his Ford's fuel light flickered on as he entered Turn 3, the engine having sputtered on the backstretch, barely making it over the finish line. The 34-year-old wasn't certain he'd make it to the end but stuck to his crew chief Paul Wolfe's plan.

In a detailed discussion with NASCAR on NBC, Joey Logano and Wolfe unpacked the race's strategy. Reflecting on the theatrical finish, Logano said:

"I think what Paul does really well is he uses all his tools really well. Whether it's anything you've got in the computer, but also, you know, as the people, as engineers. He does a good job at managing everything and seeing the whole picture. [...] It's definitely fun driving for him. It's a little uncomfortable. He puts you in uncomfortable scenarios for sure." [at 0:34]

Recounted the winning day, Paul Wolfe said:

"I think it's really just looking at all the information I have. [...] It's one thing to just be making radical calls and then they don't produce anything, but I think a majority of the time I feel like we're able to make something out of it. We try to study and understand the tires every track we go to and I think we've seen a lot of that. [...] To some it may seem risky to do that, but... Honestly, we didn't. We ran some of our fastest laps when we were on two tires." [at 1:11]

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Team Penske is on a mission to ramp up Joey Logano's speed

Despite securing a spot in the playoffs, Team Penske’s brass feels Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the #22, hasn't matched the speed displayed by last year's champion Ryan Blaney. At the season's midpoint, Penske's competition director Travis Geisler has assessed the output from his trio of teams, acknowledging Blaney’s prospects for a substantial playoff presence but remaining cautiously optimistic about Joey Logano and Austin Cindric.

Geisler pointed out that while the #22 team has been meticulous in execution, they are still chasing the sheer pace that Blaney's team has demonstrated. He said (via Racer):

"I think the #22- we’ve got to find a way to find some more speed there. They execute really well, they do all the little things right, we just have to find some more overall speed because you’re not going to get through the playoffs with one win going into it and not have a win somewhere."

In the meantime, Joey Logano's teammate Ryan Blaney continues to lead the Ford lineup, currently ranked fifth with 676 points.