Joey Logano Declares No:22 Team Always Excels Under “Crazy Amount of Pressure”

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at North Wilkesboro witnessed Team Penske Racing’s Joey Logano producing a masterclass performance to win his first race of the 2026 season, ending the 45-race winless streak. It was a massive moment for the three times Cup champion and his crew who was desperate for a positive result.

Thriving under massive pressure has always been the key to the No:22 Ford teams’ success over the years. They won their championships taking advantage of the format and peaking on the right moment, as well as producing wins when the pressure is on. In the words of the veteran his team thrives under pressure and over the years have become the expert doing it.

It’s one step at a time. I always said this team doesn’t crack under pressure. That’s our biggest strength: we’re an even-keeled team. You just keep going along. Obviously, the pressure’s on us right now. This team usually excels in those situations, under pressure…We’ve seen that for years in the playoff system we’ve had. It really put us under that crazy amount of pressure for years. Our team’s gotten really good at that.

Joey Logano said about his crew.

Further talking about the challenging streak that ended at North Wilkesboro, Joey Logano admitted that at the moment they are in the massive pressure territory, with the inconsistent start to the season and change to the championship format.  He is banking on his crew to get him out of the uncomfortable situation and potentially get in the championship conversation, though there are just 15 more race left in the season.

This point of the season where we’re at, yeah, we’re in the crazy amount of pressure territory just to get in. I like that. I like that our team excels in that. I think all of us do. A lot of that’s just because of the experience that we’ve been there, done that. Like I said, the pressure is still on. It’s not a comfortable situation. Still a long way from the ultimate goal.

Joey Logano added via RACER.com.

Joey Logano’s crew chief discusses their championship hopes

The No:22 team crew chief Paul Wolfe also talked about their struggles and hopes over the 2026 season. He admitted that the new championship format and the DNFs they had has held them back, resulting them barely hanging on to the last-16 spot. Their average finish has been 18.9 and the victory Sunday was only the third top-five finish on the season.

It’s for sure been different. With our struggles we’ve had, there’s a lot of DNFs in there as well, but when you get this far into the season, if you look at where guys are in the point standings, it ends up where typically they’ve been running. Unfortunately, we’ve been running around that position, that 16th, 17th, 18th, right where we are in the standings. Over time it works itself out.

Paul Wolfe said.

He also talked about their championship hopes and admitted that it is uncertain if they can get into the fight like their teammate Ryan Blaney, who has won multiple races and is P3 in the table. They need to work on their non-Short Track packages to get back in the conversation.

Are we still a contender for a championship? I don’t know. We still have a lot of work to do to get the other style racetracks where they need to be; the ones we’ve obviously struggled on this year. We know the short tracks are our strengths.

Paul Wolfe added.

The comments from the drivers and crew chief duo shows they have regained their confident after the impressive win on Sunday. It would be interesting see if Logano can get back to performing consistently on an elite level and give a proper championship fight.

Also Read: “I’m Okay with No Practice!” Joey Logano Believes Extending Cup Practice was Unnecessary