Did You Notice? … As the clock struck 2 a.m. at Atlanta Motor Speedway Monday (July 13), Ryan Blaney found himself racing around the track on a motorcycle. No helmet, no problem for one of the sport’s hottest drivers, turning the spotlight on his bid for the championship with a dominating win from the pole.
Blaney’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was busy motoring in a different direction … out of town as fast as possible.
To be fair, Logano left after cobbling together one of his better performances of the season, a ninth-place finish that keeps him within striking distance of the playoff cut line. But after starting alongside Blaney on the front row, his best qualifying effort in months, the driver of the No. 22 Ford could only watch as the No. 12 drove off into the sunset.
Blaney led 171 laps late Sunday night. Logano? He led none.
It’s a striking contrast considering Logano is the only active three-time Cup champion in the sport. He’s won them all at Penske, following one of the most bizarre even-numbered patterns of success we’ve ever seen in racing.
Since joining the team over 13 years ago, Logano has finished fourth, second, first, third, first and first in points during even-numbered years. It’s a remarkable streak that peaked in 2024, when he bounced back from a miserable start to win four races in the season’s second half. Jumping from 15th in points to take the championship in NASCAR’s knockout round, last-race winner-take-all format, his comeback might have also been the catalyst for reform.
It’s hard to see another Logano surge happening now, not with the new 10-race postseason Chase format the sport introduced in 2026. There’s no guarantee he will even make the cut, sitting eight points behind the 16th and final spot with seven races remaining.
Instead, Logano’s on pace for career lows in top fives (two), laps led (116) and average finish (19.8) with Penske. Still winless, a 14-season streak is also in jeopardy: He’s won at least one race a year in Cup since 2012.
While Blaney has punched above his weight, carrying the team during a down year for Ford, Logano is the poster child for the manufacturer’s problems across the board. If the season ended today, only three Ford wheelmen would make the 16-driver Chase: Blaney, Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric, Logano’s second teammate over at Penske.
That leaves the three-time champion third of three drivers on the totem pole. What gives?
The answer might be something on the team might have to give.
Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe have been an impressive combo since Wolfe moved from the then-No. 2 car to start the 2020 season. In their seventh season together, they’ve put together 14 wins, earned two of those three championships and snatched up a dozen poles.
They’re also ancient when it comes to these pairings in the sport’s modern era. Only Chase Elliott and Alan Gustafson (11 years) have been together longer in the Cup Series. The Logano-Wolfe driver/pit box marriage edges out Christopher Bell-Adam Stevens and Kyle Larson-Cliff Daniels by one year.
(By the way, neither one of THOSE duos have visited victory lane yet in 2026.)
When a three-time champion is underperforming this much, this far into their partnership, you need to at least consider the possibility of a driver/crew chief divorce. Especially with how Cindric has underperformed throughout his career, making a swap with crew chief Brian Wilson in the offseason (or if both drivers miss the playoffs in September) has to be the next logical step.
We’ve seen how changing just one guy on the roster can restart a race team. Just last season, Denny Hamlin lost Chris Gabehart and rebounded with one of the best years of his career with new crew chief Chris Gayle. There’s the Steve Letarte/Dale Earnhardt Jr. connection, a long-lasting marriage resetting his career at Hendrick Motorsports; Logano’s former teammate Kyle Busch blossomed with new crew chief Adam Stevens in 2015 to win the title. There’s even the case of Logano himself, resetting with Paul Wolfe after a disappointing 2019 season with Todd Gordon.
Pulling the trigger there may be enough. If not? There’s also reason to look ahead. Logano has a lot more miles on him than, say, Mark Martin at this age: He started his NASCAR career as a teenager and is finishing his 18th full-time season in the sport. You know what Tony Stewart did after his 18th full-time season?
He retired.
Martin Truex Jr. did that after his 19th full-time season, while fellow teenage sensation Jeff Gordon made it 23 years. If Logano followed the same pattern as Gordon, he’d be retired when turning 40.
Whenever Logano decides to move on, the next chapter is waiting. His guest appearances in racing broadcast booths have shown he’s got a second career in television. One of the smartest drivers inside the garage, he’s got a lot of outside projects, is active in charity work and has built a large, loving family with wife Brittany.
With so much going for him outside the sport, you have to think Logano isn’t going to ride around in the back just to collect a check. Next season could be a pivot point to see if Penske is still the place for the final chapter of his career, whether another top-tier opportunity awaits or … perhaps an early-ish retirement.
But before all that? The choice feels easy here. If the Chase is missed, it’s time to switch the crew chief at the No. 22 and see what happens.
Otherwise, the No. 12 team and Blaney will just keep motoring away.
Did You Notice? … Quick hits before taking off …
- The Louis Foster spot start at Lime Rock Park for the Craftsman Truck Series is the latest in a few IndyCar/NASCAR crossovers (James Hinchcliffe, Dario Franchitti). It’s nice to see both series recognizing that a rising tide lifts all boats; the more cars and one-offs we can see these drivers in, the better.
- He didn’t win but Shane van Gisbergen impressed at Atlanta. The upward learning curve of SVG on ovals has accelerated the past few months and that’s what’s going to land him in the Chase, not just his road course skill set.
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 50+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
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