Joey Logano was in the right place at the right time to repeat last year’s heroics and bag another $1 million in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The Team Penske driver was in control of the race with 40 laps to go, and then came the controversial promoter’s caution. Michael Waltrip couldn’t hold onto his excitement as well as the yellow flag, and this was the moment Logano felt he started to lose his grip on the race.
It was a heck of a battle between Christopher Bell and Logano for the win, but the driver of the #22 car was disappointed with Marcus Smith and NASCAR. “I’m pissed off right now. Just dang it, we had the fastest car… I’m trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation. Obviously I got bit by it, so I am the one frustrated, obviously.” But that wasn’t the end of his emotional rant after the race; he even aimed some warning shots at the JGR driver, despite racing him clean.
With the promoter’s caution, Logano was among the five drivers who didn’t pit for fresh Goodyear tires. In response, Bell opted for two fresh tires, restarting the race sixth. It only took him about five laps to get on the rear bumper of the #22 car, and this is where things got feisty. After battling for dozens of laps, Bell was frustrated and finally took his gloves off. He drove Logano up the track on Lap 241 of 250 and was able to win a $1 million prize. It wasn’t a bump and a run, or egregious by any means, just good, hard racing, and Bell made the most of his tire advantage there.
Logano was asked if he would race Bell any differently after losing to Bell at North Wilkesboro after the race. To which he replied, “Oh, I’ll just race him the same way. That’s all it is. I mean, I guess they have a race for a million dollars. I get it, but we race each other every week. We’re like elephants, we don’t forget anything.” Well, for those who have followed the Penske driver, would know that he wouldn’t flinch if he were in Bell’s place to win the All-Star race. There are a lot of instances where Logano not only played dirty but even spoiled the race for others.
How does Joey Logano plan to race Christopher Bell moving forward?
“I’ll race him the same way.” pic.twitter.com/MiOgcIJJX1
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) May 19, 2025
Take this year’s Daytona 500 race. He was the one who sparked the big one, late in the race, trying to squeeze himself into the spot in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Not only did he fail, but took out contenders like Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric. Rowdy didn’t mince words in calling out the defending NASCAR champion, “Looks like the fastest car got in hurry to wreck, Logano by far was the fastest car today.”
So, Logano’s complaints didn’t make sense to the race fans, who shared their honest take and opinion over his arguments on social media.
Joey Logano is slowly turning out to be NASCAR’s new villain
“Bell raced him like Joey races other, a bit of bumping and banging, but didn’t take him out and had Joey and fresher tires would’ve lived to fight back at a later lap even,” stated one fan. Remember last year when Austin Dillon took out Denny Hamlin and Logano on the last lap at Richmond. Bell’s move on the Penske driver was nothing even close to Dillon’s antics; he wanted to get past him, knew he had the speed and advantage, but Logano was trying his best not to give up his position.
With fans calling him two-faced, the incident at the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs at Martinsville Speedway was brought to light. While in a fierce battle with Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps, Logano executed his classic “bump-and-run” strategy, nudging Truex Jr. in Turn 4 and moving him up the track and slipping underneath to take the win. Although the victory locked Logano into the Championship 4 title, fans were not very impressed by his tactics.
Truex himself commented, “He may have won the race battle, be he ain’t winning the damn war.” Fans were split on his action, as some defended it and saw it as a classic short-track move, while others viewed it as aggressive. And now, after 7 years, Logano has done it again, although not succeeding in his attempts this time, but still criticized for trying. And fans clearly weren’t sold on his arguments, “If the roles were reversed I’m 100% certain Joey punts Bell.”
Fans have noticed the change in Joey’s demeanor with each passing season, as one commented, “Joey’s really gotten a lot more insufferable this year with his whining, I think his 3x “title” status has really fed his ego.” At this point, the winning mindset has started working against him. If you were to put him against his own teammate, Ryan Blaney, Logano would pull off the Martin Truex Jr. on him; that’s just how he operates, but when the roles are reversed, he can’t take the beating.
Some were not over his last year’s championship win, where he had the best luck, made the most of the playoff tournament, and earned his way into the championship race. One lucky win in Nashville, the big break after he was out of the playoffs after the Charlotte Roval race, where Bowman got DQ, and from there on, he executed, playing to the tunes of the broken system. “Gimmick champion mad at a gimmick.”
It will be interesting to see how Joey Logano responds to Bell in upcoming races. If anything, fans would appreciate a good rivalry between a three-time champ and a rising star.
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