By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer
CONCORD, N.C. – The most recent winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is Joey Logano. Although the win came in last weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race, a non-points race, Logano and his No. 22 Pennzoil team are riding the momentum of the win into this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600.
When asked about how his Sprint All-Star Race win give him momentum, Logano had this to say, “It definitely gives us momentum. For us, the No. 22 team in particular, we were coming off of three crashes in a row. Not that our confidence gets crushed in those moments, I think our team is stronger than that.”
“It’s nice to break through after three tough weekends and be able to break through and get that victory, the first victory of the year, even if it’s the All-Star Race and it didn’t count for points, we really want to win this Coca-Cola 600. I think it’s been a long time since a Coca-Cola driver has won one of these things, so as a Coke Family member, I want to make that happen. I feel like I have a good car so far in practice, we’ve only been in qualifying trim. It’s not really a whole bunch different from last weekend.”
When asked about how he balances his friendship with Brad Keselowski as his teammate and his competitor, and was asked what would happen in a situation similar to Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards at Richmond, Logano explained, “Racing your teammate is the hardest thing. The ultimate goal is racing each other for the win. In that situation it’s very hard to understand what is acceptable and what is not. I think Brad and I have a good understanding of what that is, we have a great relationship, a great friendship.”
“I think we know each other well enough to know what’s acceptable and what is not. A lot of times you have to look at the big picture. You have to look past the hood pins in those situations, not to say that we’re not going to race each other for the win, of course we’re going to race each other for the win. I would expect that from him, and your damn sure right I’m going to do it too. We’re not going to crash each other. The line is different for each team.”
In the past week, there has been talk of attempting to add another incentive to the All-Star Race by giving the winner of the All-Star Race a Chase berth. Logano had this to say on whether he would take the Chase berth or the million dollars, “Well, it’s not my million dollars. Would I trade it? I’d choose both. I want it all.”
“I don’t know if you need to incentivize something more than throwing a million dollars out in front of a driver. It’s enough to make me race, and apparently it’s enough to make Kyle Larson and the rest of us race last Saturday night. I think that was enough, we don’t need to throw more in it. As the winner of the All-Star Race, yes I’m going to say I would want to have some points for it, and have both. But, it’s the All-Star Race, that’s what it’s all about, it’s not supposed to be for points. It’s supposed to be for a million dollars, that’s all that anyone talked about last week, that’s what it’s supposed to be all about, the big check at the end. I don’t see why we need to change that.”
Image: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
