Ricky Stenhouse Jr. comes clean on his Daytona ‘standpoint’ following a crucial talk with Joey Logano

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. revisited his crash last week at Daytona International Speedway with fellow racer Joey Logano. During a recent interview with journalist Bob Pockrass, the Hyak Motorsports driver circled out exactly what went wrong between him and the reigning Cup Series champion.

Stenhouse Jr. told Pockrass that he had spoken to Logano about the fiasco following the race. Reflecting on his conversation with the three-time Cup Series champion, Stenhouse said,

“That’s where from my standpoint, we were in the top lane. I was watching Joey in my mirror… I knew he was going to the middle so I was waiting in the move to go with him. All that worked out. He, you know, lifted enough to like — I was, you know, still in front of his front bumper, which was good. I thought, kind of everything settled down.” (00:3 4)

Stenhouse Jr. lost the chance to win last year by not taking the block, so this time around, he wanted to execute a block in a way that would keep Logano behind him. Logano had even given him ample room to stay in his lane, but things got out of hand when Stenhouse Jr. started easing back to be in line with Logano. With Busch nestled among the pack at the time, everyone ran out of room, resulting in the mayhem.

“I was looking at the No. 01 [Corey LaJoie], who I thought would be going down with us. When I looked up, he was higher than I had expected. So, I kind of wanted to be in line with him, to kind of get the draft down the back stretch. At that time, I thought Joey was just in line. Then, when I started easing back down, you know, Joey was in there, getting pushed." (1:02)

Logano and Busch went home with their first DNFs of the season. However, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was able to complete the race, albeit in P18. William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports managed to defend his win at the annual crown jewel event, thus earning a spot in the playoffs.

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Joey Logano stood by his narrative of a run-in with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Daytona

Joey Logano has been receiving quite some criticism after he allegedly miscalculated the consequences of being aggressive. He recently spoke on the backlash with Danielle Trotta of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“You know, there was a move to get down to the middle,” said the Team Penske star. “It was no doubt the right move, to try to secure his track position up there, and get to that second lane. Ricky’s block was, was a little late, right? I checked up for that.”

But Logano had assumed that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would veer to the third lane following the mistimed block. But that did not happen. Seeing no other option to clear the traffic, Logano chose to take the risk of squeezing his No. 22 Mustang into the little space ahead of him.

“At that point, you know, the No. 4 is on the gas, the car behind him is on the gas. Everybody’s ready to push into it, and I couldn’t get out at that point. I couldn’t line back up, I couldn’t get out. I was kind of stuck. And that’s what caused the wreck,” Logano explained.

Nevertheless, the NASCAR Cup Series regulars will now prepare for Sunday’s (February 23) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Unlike Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano has won previously at the 1.5-mile quad oval and both his victories came after the racetrack was reconfigured in 2021-2022.

Needless to say, Logano is one to watch out for during this year’s Ambetter Health 400. Fans can watch the race on FOX or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.