Joey Logano compares disappointing 2017 season to horror film

It was the NASCAR equivalent of a “horror film,” Joey Logano explains looking back on the 2016 season. Something he didn’t see coming. And when the ugliness reared its head, the situation quickly spiraled beyond control leaving nothing but a wake of shattered hopes in its path.

Coming off a runner-up championship finish the year prior and having emerged as a perennial title contender since joining Team Penske four years before, Logano was considered one of the favorites to win the Cup Series crown last season. All the needed ingredients were in place — a strong and battle-tested team led by crew chief Todd Gordon that had 15 won races together (third-most since 2013) and security in the form of a long-term contract for both himself and sponsor Shell that was announced just days before the season-opening Daytona 500.

And when Logano began the 2017 season by amassing a win and eight finishes of sixth or better through the first nine races, it seemed as if it was business as usual for the team that had advanced to the championship playoff round twice in three years.

Then, suddenly, things went askew.

After Logano won April 30 at Richmond Raceway, NASCAR officials determined the rear suspension on the No. 22 Ford had nonconforming parts. The win was encumbered, meaning Logano couldn’t use it to qualify for the playoffs. He was also docked 25 points, and Gordon was suspended two races.

At the time the penalties felt inconsequential. Conventional wisdom was such that Logano surely would win another regular season race, effectively negating the loss of the win and the points deduction. Except the No. 22 team not only failed to win one of the remaining 17 regular season races, but its performance nosedived. Logano finished in the top 10 just four times, a dip that cost him a playoff spot.

A stunning surprise, considering the lofty expectations that left all involved flabbergasted at what had transpired.

“I would say it blindsided every one of us,” Logano said. “We didn’t think the penalty at Richmond was a big deal. We thought we would go win more races. No big deal. Then it was one thing after another, and before we knew it our back was against the wall.”

In the aftermath of missing the playoffs, Logano and Gordon did some self-assessment and analyzed areas where they needed to be better. What they concluded was they had to be open to new ideas. Instead of relying on the formula that had earned them so much success, they had to try a different approach — primarily related to the construction of its cars.

“When you find something that works for you and you are able to keep evolving off of that foundation that you built that works and you keep building off of something and then the rules change and things change and then all of a sudden that doesn’t work anymore, it is really hard to just knock over what you built and start all over,” Logano said. It is very challenging to get yourself to think that openly.

“I think that is what happens a lot of times in sports. You see some of these great teams go out there and win a championship and then the next year you are like, ‘what happened to these guys?’ The sport changes. It evolves and you have to evolve with it, and we are a little late to the game. If you look at the last five or six races, we started running in the top-five more often.”

A mindset employed over the final 10 races provided promising, with Logano posting one top five and four top 10s. The focus this offseason was carrying that approach over to the 2018 season, which begins with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, and returning to the form he exhibited from 2013-2016.

“We know we are a championship team,” Logano said. “Nothing has changed from two years ago when we almost won the championship. It is the same group. Nothing has changed. We know we can still do that. Let’s go.

“Is Daytona here yet?”

And if all goes well, he’s hoping last year’s inexplicable stumble will become a distant memory.

“I think after going through that and living that horror film, you don’t want to do that again,” Logano said. “There is plenty of motivation to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“We did not see that coming at all.”