Joey Logano breaks silence on backlash over Chicago Xfinity race entry, claims AMR asked him to replace Hailie Deegan

Joey Logano shares his hopes about the Xfinity race return at Chicago.

Joey Logano breaks silence on backlash over Chicago Xfinity race entry, claims AMR asked him to replace Hailie Deegan

Hailie Deegan and Joey Logano (Via IMAGO)

Hailie Deegan came into the 2024 NASCAR season with the hopes of producing performances that was expected of her when she made a name in the ARCA Mendes series. AM Racing offered her a seat despite three underwhelming years in the Truck Series. But since the first race it’s been tough for Deegan and now, she found herself in a much tougher situation.

AMR announced that two times Cup champion Joey Logano will replace Hailie Deegan for this weekend’s Chicago Street race. This has caused some backlash in the NASCAR community as the reason given by the team for the replacement was questionable. They claimed it was made to get feedback from the racer on what they are doing wrong. If that was the cause, it was better to do it for an oval race.

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Joey Logano talked about the decision in his recent appearance in the Dale Jr. Download podcast talked about the decision and pointed out that it was AMR asked him to drive and not the other way around. He asserted that once he got clearance from Roger Penske, he took the chance with both hands.  

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They called me last week and said ‘Hey, we got the seat here for the 15 that seems like it’s going to open up and do you want to drive it? I thought well, I think so. Let me clear with my boss Roger [Penske] and make sure that’s okay and there’s no sponsor conflicts. Once I had all that cleared, it just seemed to make sense on really both ends.
Joey Logano said via Dale Jr. Download.

Joey Logano is looking forward to having a good time

It’s been a long-time since the champion driver has driven in the second tier, so he is really looking forward to have some fun. He is also feeling good about the No:15 team after visiting the team’s facility ahead of the race week.

Joey Logano (Credits: Chris Graythen | Getty Images)
Joey Logano (Credits: Chris Graythen) 
I felt like that was worth it to me. I went up to their shop and checked their cars out and then was able to go back up get the seat in there. Feel pretty good about it at this point. It should be fun. It’s definitely a lot different than what I’m used to, and I haven’t driven an Xfinity car since 2019. It’s been a while since I’ve been in one.
Joey Logano said.

The Penske driver would be hoping to use the extra laps he is going to get at the Xfinity Series to fuel his challenge to win the Cup race while also giving AMR what they want. It would be interesting to see how the race would playout for the veteran and how it would affect Deegan.

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