Joey Logano ‘disgusted’ by fan reaction after Martinsville crash, focused on championship

Joey Logano has reviewed the events of the past few weeks that include him spinning out and costing Matt Kenseth a badly-needed win last month at Kansas Speedway, and then Kenseth getting retribution by intentionally crashing Logano Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

After having reviewed the controversial events, what has Logano determined that he could have done differently? That maybe he should have been less aggressive knowing what Kenseth had at stake? Or reached out to Kenseth following Kansas and attempted to pacify his rival to prevent what occurred at Martinsville?

The answer is nothing. Because if given the chance, Logano would not change a single thing he’s done since the Oct. 18 Kansas race.

“I am confident in the decisions I made as a driver and the decisions we made as a team,” Logano said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “That was a racing thing what happened at Kansas and I wouldn’t expect a phone call from someone else if that happened. You don’t want to see that happen, but the more I looked at it, it was just a racing thing. It just happened. It was unfortunate, but I would understand if it happened to me.”

Had Kenseth won Kansas he would have advanced to Round 3 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff, but instead the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was eliminated when the second round concluded the following week at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kenseth’s frustration increased further when an accident involving Logano and his teammate Brad Keselowski cost him a chance to win Sunday at Martinsville. Because of the damage suffered, Kenseth fell 10 laps down and prompted him to seek payback on Logano -- who was leading and would have transferred to the championship bracket with a victory -- by deliberately pile-driving Logano’s No. 22 car into the Turn 1 wall.

When Kenseth slammed Logano, a loud resounding cheer emanated from the grandstands enthralled by Kenseth’s deliberate takeout. The fact that a loud majority supported him being intentionally wrecked surprised Logano, who admits he was taken back by the response.

“I was disgusted by it,” Logano said. “That is not what any racer would expect out of it. But I am going to look at the silver lining on this one: There were more No. 22 T-shirts and Joey Logano T-shirts and hats walking around when I was walking out of Martinsville. I noticed that. There were more fans rooting for me now than ever before. That is pretty cool.

“Instead of listening to the critics and fans that may not like me, I am going to look at the silver lining and know that I have more fans than I ever had before and I appreciate every one of them.”

NASCAR suspended Kenseth an unprecedented two races Tuesday, a penalty that an appellant board upheld Thursday. Logano supported NASCAR’s reaction and believes it will serve as a deterrent to prevent drivers from intentionally impacting the title picture.

But the heavy sanctions don’t change the fact Logano now essentially needs to register a victory either Sunday at Texas or next week at Phoenix International Raceway to avoid Chase elimination. The winner of a series-best six races this season is confident his team will respond to the adversity and qualify for the Nov. 22 championship finale.

“I am not convinced (Martinsville) is a bad thing,” Logano said. “Our team is more fired up than ever. I am more focused than ever. I am pumped up about being here at (Texas). What happened last week is what happened last week. Is it the way we wanted it to go? No, of course not. Did we get the finish we felt we deserved that day? No, but this team has plenty of confidence ... and more drive than there has ever been.”