Joey Logano Reveals the Secret to Success in the Chase Format

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Season marked the return to the chase for the championship format, ending the controversial playoffs format. One driver many expected to struggle because of the change was Joey Logano and the three times champion has surprised everyone by placing himself in contention with the late season surge.

The No:22 Team Penske Racing Ford driver revealed that the formula for success in the chase format is similar to that of the playoff format. The driver that gets hot at the right time will run away with the title, though regular season performance matters a lot.

It’s about getting hot at the right time. That’s what the Chase, playoffs, any postseason type situation it’s all about being hot at the right time. Not that the regular season doesn’t matter, it does, and it seeds you to be in the right spot and to help you along.

Joey Logano said.

The racer needs to peak at the right time and that why the championship leads were shared between multiple drivers, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and now Kyle Larson. This attitude helped Joey Logano and his team to succeed in the playoff era and it seems that are relaying on it again with the new format.

Either format does that, but the performance this time of year is what matters the most. There’s no doubt that the players in the game have changed throughout the year a couple times on who has been the fastest car, the dominant car and right now, obviously, is the most important time of the year to do that.

Joey Logano added via motorsport.com.

Joey Logano is not out of the championship chase

Last weekends race at Kansas Motor Speedway was a momentum killer for Logano, as a flat tire saw him drop to P20, placing him over 67 points behind leader Larson. He needs to have a 70-points day while the no:5 HMS driver struggle to get back in the chase.

I think the thing that has probably stood out the most is the value of wins and stage points together. How you can quickly make up a fair amount of distance with the 70-point day. At the same time, if you have somebody like Larson last week that was already right there at the points lead and has a 70-plus point day and he’s checked out really quickly.

Joey Logano said.

The veteran highlighted how Larson has been able to amass a lot of points in the last few weeks to overtake Hamlin in the table and he can do the same if the HMS driver has some bad races. That’s why he is still confident about his championship chances.

He puts together a couple of those and he’s out there, but just as quickly if he has a couple bad ones and someone else has a couple big days like that, it closes right up. I think we’ve seen that all year.

Joey Logano added.

The comments from the veteran are on point and how challenging the championship chase under the new format. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the coming weeks, with six more races left to crown the champion.

Also Read: Kyle Larson Brands Denny Hamlin as the Driver to Beat at Las Vegas