Team Penske Insider Sends Bold “Don’t Overlook” Joey Logano Warning to the cup grid
Team Penske Insider Michael Nelson refuses to write off Joey Logano and his chances to succeed in the playoffs in the 2025 season.

Joey Logano (via Imago)
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Joey Logano has suffered from a woeful outing in the 2025 season. The reigning world champion was expected to remain a strong contender for race wins this year as well. However, Logano only has a single win in the regular season, with only a handful of top five finishes. Regardless, Team Penske’s Michael Nelson reckons that the drivers in the playoff shouldn’t overlook the #22 driver in the round of 16.
Joey Logano was one of the more dominant forces on the track in the 2024 season as he ultimately won the Cup Series championship. However, Logano’s performance in the 2025 season remains far from satisfactory.
Still, his stellar victory at the Wurth 400 in Texas helped him secure his spot in the playoffs early on. Regardless, his chances to succeed in the playoffs are a whole different story, as many individuals have already cast their doubts.
Team Penske President of NASCAR Operations Michael Nelson sided with Joey Logano in the matter and noted that he would exceed expectations and perform better than anticipated. As such, Nelson declared that overlooking the 35-year-old and his chances to succeed this year would be a pretty big mistake by the rivals.
Despite the current results looking far from satisfactory, he could turn the season around by coming up as a dominant driver in the first round of playoffs. Michael Nelson further explained that Joey Logano has been really good in terms of performance, regardless of the results.
Nelson recalled the #22 driver’s outing at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona and how he put himself in a great position and ran the entire race well. However, a collision and spin-out caused Logano to ultimately finish in P27, despite starting the race from P4.
I think overlooking Joey Logano is a pretty big mistake, He’s obviously really good. You saw that again tonight and had put himself in position and basically ran up front all night.
Michael Nelson said via Cup Scene.
Joey Logano and Team Penske have ‘been through this before’
Joey Logano isn’t just a defending world champion; rather, he has also lifted the trophy in the 2022 season and is a three-time Cup Series champion. As such, despite the adversities, Logano is likely used to these performance slumps and will bounce back stronger. Even Michael Nelson feels the same way, as he recalled that Team Penske has gone through such phases before.

Michael Nelson declared that Team Penske is experienced and capable, no matter the problems they face in performance. Nelson highlighted that they have been through such issues before and wouldn’t find it difficult to bounce back. Going into the playoffs is like a ‘feather in the cap’ for Logano and Co., as they will likely make more with their playoff qualifications than anticipated by everyone.
That team is experienced, they’re capable, they’ve been through this before, I think that really is a feather in their cap going into the playoffs is they’ve been there and done it before, so they have confidence that they can get it done.
Michael Nelson noted.
The 2025 season has been very exciting and entertaining in terms of racing action as the drivers now prepare for the playoffs. Joey Logano certainly hasn’t had a season he could boast about for the years to come. However, he could turn the entire season around if he becomes a serious challenger for the Cup Series championship this year and achieves a consecutive championship win.
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