Logano tackling the haters head-on as another NASCAR title fight looms

Joey Logano knows perfectly well that a portion of the NASCAR audience doesn't want to see him win another Cup Series championship.

Unfortunately for them, Logano and his team have turned into a competitive reminder as they chase another one.

“Do I have a little chip on my shoulder? Yes,” said Logano after winning Saturday night at Richmond Raceway. “That’s a clear yes. So much that our little team slogan in our hauler on our little scoreboard is ‘4 The Haters.’ That’s where we’re at. 

“That’s a good little extra motivation. Either way, the Mickey Mouse ears look good on the trophies, and the check was pretty cool to go with it. So, I’m all right with it.” 

To many, Logano became the poster child for what was wrong with the playoff format. The elimination format produced three championships for Logano, in 2018, ’22, and ’24, and the latter produced the most consternation because Logano was far behind during the regular season, only to come on strong in the final 10 weeks.

As a result, Logano’s championships have been downplayed compared to most of his peers. Or, as has become popular among fans, he's become the "Mickey Mouse champion", insinuating that he’s not a legitimate winner.

“They’re all legit,” Logano said. “I don’t care what the format is because everyone knew the rules when it started. So, I’ll say that first.”

The haters are in shambles once again, as Logano’s win at Richmond has moved him into the championship conversation. Logano is ninth in the championship standings and 36 points out of sixth place. He is 56 points out of fifth place in the standings.

NASCAR modeling predicts that, in the Chase format NASCAR brought back this season, the drivers in the top six have the best chance to win the championship. It was only six weeks ago that Logano was 20th in the standings, facing questions and concern about whether he would even make the top 16 to be in the Chase at all.

“I wish we were a little better off in points than we are, but we’re getting there,” Logano said. “And we’ve still got a couple more races where we can score a bunch more points. Next week in Loudon, I feel confident in that racetrack; that’s home. That one is always a real special one for me, so hopefully we can bring this amount of speed again and execute like this again.

“Even Iowa was strong. We had two second (place finishes) in the stages and just had that little hiccup on pit road that kept us from finishing top three probably. So, yeah, things are good. I wish we were a little bit closer to the front right now, but I said before the season started, you have to be in the top 10. I said seven, but I think you can probably recover more than I thought. But I think in the top 10 you can make a serious run at winning this thing.