"Wasn't the victory we were hoping for": Joey Logano acknowledges Austin Cindric's win amid Ryan Blaney's late misfortune at WWT Raceway

Although the Fords ran in the top 5 for most of the day at Gateway, Joey Logano couldn't convert his good day into a great one for the #22 team. Logano has been in the middle of a long winless drought, as the Team Penske driver hasn't been to the victory lane since Atlanta in March 2023.

However, his teammate Austin Cindric winning at Gateway was enough for Logano considering his other teammate, Ryan Blaney, suffered a massive disappointment as he ran out of fuel with one lap to go.

During a post-race interview, Joey Logano was asked how important Cindric's win was considering his recent comments regarding the #22 team not having "any mulligans left."

Logano claimed that while they needed to win to enter the playoffs, he was happy with the result, for him and Penske.

"It was important. We need to win, obviously. But scoring points on days like today is important. So glad we were able to do that. It wasn't the victory we were hoping for, but a Penske car is in the victory lane which I call that a success," Logano said as per Frontstretch. [1:44]

As for his own race, Logano claimed it was "okay" and he ran free for the majority of the race as he was unable to get the back of the car on the racetrack. The 2x Cup champion added that he was proud of his team.

And while the strategy and the execution were good, it wasn't enough.

Joey Logano looking forward to the upcoming string of races

Sixteen races into the season, Joey Logano's only win in 2024 was the All-Star race. While that win earned him a check of a million dollars, it didn't earn him any points for his quest to enter the playoffs.

But despite being where they find themselves to be, the #22 team driver is looking forward to the next stretch of races, which will be at Sonoma, Iowa, and New Hampshire.

Logano claimed that the next four weeks of races "line up pretty good" for his team and they need to capitalize on that. The Penske driver mentioned that the window to execute is now as they don't have "any mulligans left."

"We don’t have any mulligans left at this point with where we are in points. We have to get up in points, get all the points we possibly can, win a race if possible," Logano said as per NASCAR.

The Penske driver claimed that he was considering the race at Gateway as "one of the strongest" suits for the #22 team in the last two years considering he finished first and third. This was enough to convince Joey Logano that they should have "a good spot" at Gateway.

And that's what ended up being the case too, as the #22 car finished in 5th place. It wasn't a win that Logano had hoped for or wanted, but it was a good result, one they could build on.