Denny Hamlin Declares Joey Logano “is Capable” of Making into 2026 Chase Despite Massive Struggles

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season so far hasn’t been kind to three times champion Joey Logano. He had a good start with a P3 finish at Daytona and after a five-race streak of mediocrity, made a comeback with back-to-back top-10s at Martinsville and Bristol. But since then, it’s been a disaster as he finished outside the top-30 in the last four events.

This has gotten the attention of one of his most fierce rival and former teammate Denny Hamlin. On his podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran highlighted how the poor finishes were not the product of bad luck instead it shows how bad the No:22 cars have been. At the same time there were also situating where lady luck abandoned him.

I mean I think only one or two of those 30 (or worse) finishes were warranted because of actual performance. But no, they’re not running good enough to be doing this, having other issues that are making them finish poorly.

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

But Denny Hamlin is not ready to give up on his former teammate as he believes the former champion has the dog in him to make a comeback. Joey Logano is a 37 times winner in the elite level for a reason, and it won’t be a big surprise if one day the No:22 Ford suddenly become competitive again, start winning races.

I think he’s got enough dog in him, I do. I do. I think that it wouldn’t be a big surprise — would it be out of character, yes — but not a big surprise for him to go and qualify inside the top four at a track a few weeks from now, get about a 55-point day and next thing you know he’s right back there, right where he was.

Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.

Further talking about the point, the veteran insisted that the Team Penske driver is capable of getting out of the misery and admitted that 12 races are not a big enough sample size to definitively claim someone is having a poor season. He also highlighted how the Penske drivers isn’t alone as the likes of Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and William Byron are also struggling.

I think they’re capable. Obviously they’re capable. They just, they’ve had poor finishes and poor luck to go with it. And that’s why they’re at where they’re at. Now, again, we’re 12 races in. It’s still, the sample size is quite big enough to where you still, you know, as a champ shouldn’t be that far down the list. But there’s a lot of guys that are. (William) Byron, (Christopher) Bell, (Kyle) Larson. These guys are all five, six spots out of their normal positioning at this time of the year.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Denny Hamlin trusts Joey Logano’s team despite the struggles

Later in the same conversation, the No:11 Toyota driver pointed out that one of the key reasons why Logano’s struggle is getting more attention is the championship format change. The elimination of win and in system makes the season a full-year grind. The Ford team is capable of getting back to performing on that level, as suggested by the 23XI Racing co-owner.

It’s just the win and you’re in era changes everything, right? You’re not playing your cards for that, trying to hit that one hand. This is a long, grind-it-out tournament. I still think that they’re good enough. The team is good enough, he’s good enough that… who’s he going to pick off? I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from the JGR driver are on point and shows how he isn’t giving up on the star driver due to the early season struggles. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the Penske veteran in the coming weekend as his desperate search for another race win continues.

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