Joey Logano breaks silence on backlash over Talladega meltdown

Joey Logano responded to the backlash he received for lashing out on Austin Cindric at Talladega.

Joey Logano breaks silence on backlash over Talladega meltdown

Joey Logano (Via IMAGO)

Team Penske star Joey Logano erupted in anger during the Talladega Cup race. The 34-year-old was furious on his teammate, Austin Cindric after the reigning Cup Series lost speed at the end of stage 2 of the race. This allowed Toyota’s Bubba Wallace to clinch the stage win. Logano’s rant received backlash from fans and the media alike. With even Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones hitting out at the Penske driver. Now, Logano has responded to the backlash.

The reigning Cup Series champion claimed that he was angry because Austin Cindric had failed to follow the rules for superspeedways. In superspeedway races, drivers of the same team or even the same manufacturer usually work together to get the best result possible. However, Cindric’s incident angered Logano as he believed he had always done the right thing, but did not get his fair share this time around.

You go superspeedway racing, there’s different rules in place for the teams. There’s the (manufacturer) rules, there’s the team rules and you try to put these all in place to try to give your cars the best chance to win… The rules that were set in place weren’t followed. That ticked me off quite a bit because I feel like I’ve always done the right thing and try really hard to do that.

Joey Logano told NBC Sports.

Moreover, the 34-year-old made it clear that the incident wasn’t in isolation. Rather, the Talladega race was the final nail in the coffin amid a series of mistakes. However, Joey Logano assured fans that he has already had a discussion with Cindric following his outburst on the team radio, with the two having moved on from this dramatic fallout.

Austin and I talked about it. We’ve got to move forward. That’s what it is. I explained my side. He understood. We move on. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

Joey Logano added.

The three times Cup Series champion did accept that he should not have shouted in anger on the radio. It would’ve been better for Logano if he kept his calm during the race, and had a conversation with Austin Cindric later on, instead of publicly lashing out on his teammate.

Joey Logano hits out at Chipper Jones

Following the Talladega race, Baseball legend Chipper Jones went on to publicly criticize Logano on X. Jones congratulated Cindric for the race win, but pointed out that one of his teammates badmouthed him live on national TV, referring to the 34-year-old. These comments were not taken kindly by Joey Logano who did not hold back post-race.

Chipper Jones
Chipper Jones (via Sports Illustrated)

The Penske driver claimed that Chipper Jones might just be trying to stay in the public eye by posting such a tweet. Joey Logano found it surprising that another professional athlete would take such a step without understanding the emotions behind the situation.

All I can think is he’s trying to be relevant still or something like that. I’m surprised that a professional athlete would act in that manner because he’s been through it. I am very careful to form an opinion on an athlete by their emotions or the way they play the game because I know from being in that position.

Joey Logano told Dustin Long of NBC Sports.

As the dust settled over the Talladega outburst, Joey Logano took a much calmer approach to tackle the incident. The NASCAR star acknowledged his mistake in slamming his teammate on live TV.

As a result, Logano will likely be more careful going forward and keep such conversations for team meetings. On the other hand, it seems that the 34-year-old might end up in a feud with Chipper Jones with no signs of either of them backing down.

Related: Denny Hamlin calls out Ross Chastain over “bulls—- racing” at Talladega