Joey Logano is exuding confidence for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race after qualifying second behind Martin Truex Jr. on Saturday afternoon. Logano is at the front of the Championship 4 pack by qualifying on the front row and is followed by William Byron (8th), Tyler Reddick (10th) and defending champion, Ryan Blaney (17th).
“I feel like our car is strong,” Joey Logano said to Newsweek and other media. “I think we did a good job in qualifying. We got them down now. We just have to put our foot on their throats. We feel pretty strong about our team, and these type of pressure situations we feel really solid about as far as our team in these moments. So, yeah, we’re just executing our plan. We’ve had two weeks to put the plan together. We’re executing it the best we can now.”
Logano has been riding high as of late after winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 20th. With a berth in the Championship 4 clinched by winning in Las Vegas Logano and the No. 22 team have had extra time to prepare for this Sunday’s Cup Series Championship Race. The extra preparation was palpable during Logano’s qualifying effort.
“I feel like I’ve said it to you guys all week that I feel like we’ve had the upper hand, right? Now I feel like it’s coming to life a little bit more so than just talking about it seeing what just happened there,” Logano said. “Yeah, I feel like we’re in a great spot. Obviously a lot of things can happen from here, but when you look at what we just accomplished today and getting a solid starting spot, that’s something that we should be proud of and also it’s exactly what we were trying to do.”
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Logano and the No. 22 team are the elder statesman among the Championship 4. Logano, 34, has four years on his nearest Championship rival Blaney, 30, and is trying to parlay this experience into a third NASCAR Cup Series Championship. A third title would put Logano in rare air as one-of-nine drivers that have won three or more Cup Series titles and would cement his legacy as an all-time great NASCAR driver.
“So, yeah, we feel confident,” Logano said. “This race team has been doing this for a long, long time. What did I say to you guys? We are old men of the death. That’s what we are (laughing). We’ve all been doing this a long, long time. This group has been a group that’s been together for a long time, even before I was driving this one.”