"You’re in denial for a minute": Joey Logano eliminated in the first round of the NASCAR playoffs after crash at Bristol

Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano has been eliminated after the 2023 season's first round of the Playoffs. The driver of the #22 Ford Mustang fielded by Team Penske was involved in a wreck that wiped out his chances of advancing into the Round of 12 this weekend as the sport went racing at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 500-lap-long Bass Pro Shops Night Race saw Logano get collected when Spire Motorsports' Corey LaJoire in the #7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spun out. The pile-up involved other cars as well, although, Logano suffered the most, with the biggest implications in his bid for the title this year.

Retiring due to a heavily damaged car on lap 262 of 500, Logano elaborated on his feelings after the race concluded in an interview with frontstretch.com. He said:

"Obviously, it’s a real bummer. You get out of the race like that and you’re behind the wall and you’re in denial for a minute. You don’t want to believe that it happened and you want to think that it’s fixable, but the car was tore up too bad.”

On whether he could have done anything to avoid the spinning #7 Chevy driven by Corey LaJoie, the two-time Cup Series champion said:

"There’s nothing I could have done there in that wreck. It’s just a product of being back there and the way we raced or anything like that didn’t affect that. The only thing that affected that is we were back there, so that’s it.”

Kevin Harvick also joined Joey Logano as another Cup Series champion getting knocked out of the first round of the 2023 playoffs.

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Joey Logano elaborates on the effect of his playoffs elimination on the #22 crew at Team Penske

Elaborating on the uncharacteristic scenario he finds himself in, given he won last year's title, Joey Logano was understandably upset after his retirement from the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The #22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang driver elaborated on how the team handled the elimination, as well as what could be done to avoid such instances in the future.

He elaborated in an interview with frontstretch.com:

"It's still the same team that won the championship last year. We're a little lost at the moment, fighting and trying to figure some things out."

NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend for the first Round of 12 race of the 2023 postseason.