Logano faces must-win situation at Richmond

The situation for Joey Logano is simple: Win Richmond and he's in the playoffs.

It is the worst-case scenario the No. 22 Team Penske team could face. After winning the spring Richmond race, an infraction found in post-race inspection encumbered the victory. While Logano kept the trophy, he was stripped of his playoff eligibility and has been fighting over the past 16 races to get it back.

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And it's been just that - a fight.

Logano and crew chief Todd Gordon have been scratching and clawing to find the performance the team is accustomed to. Since his victory, Logano has had only three top-10 finishes with 17 laps led. With 10 finishes of 21st or worst, he has fallen to 15th in points and is 129 points out of a playoff spot.

But Logano has done extremely well at Richmond in the past with two wins and seven consecutive top-10 finishes.

"Yeah, but we've done well here before, too, but we just didn't have the speed today," he said after finishing 18th in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. "The team executed really well. Our pit crew was super fast and we had a car that was good on the long run sometimes, but never good on the short run. And then at the end it was horrible on the long run, so we just never really got the balance right.

"We were good in the day, but when we got to night time all hell broke loose for us. We're on to the next one."