Asked if there’s any pressure in the second race of a round if you don’t win the opening race of the round, Joey Logano said he’ll just approach it the same way he would any other race.
Speaking to the media during his media availability this morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was asked what the pressure is like in the second race of a round when you fail to score the victory in the first race of the round.
“I just approach it the same way I would any other race,” Logano said. “If you didn’t have a good race last week, then the pressure is added – no doubt. But we finished second last week and scored some good points. We talk about this round as being base hits and don’t have to do anything crazy. We did that exactly last week, so we’ll just come up here and do the same exact thing. If something happens, something happens and we’ll approach Dover in a different way, but, right now, let’s go out here and if we can win the race, let’s win the race. If not, let’s try to top-5 it and that will give us a good sense of security heading into Dover. It’s one race at a time, one step at a time. For us personally, the 22 team had a good weekend last week. The pressure is probably the same as what it was in Chicago. We just have to do what we know how to do.”
Last week, Logano scored a runner-up finish in the Chase-opening Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. His afternoon wasn’t a barn burner or down in the dumps. He just drove under the radar until the checker flew.
He currently sits fifth in points just seven out of first-place.
He was also asked if Team Penske sweeping the first three spots in the final points standings in IndyCar this season added any pressure on and/or open up resources for he and Brad Keselowski.
“They finished one-two-three, so holy moly! I don’t know if you want to call it added pressure, but I think there’s plenty on us already and I think we are better under pressure,” he added. “I like that. Fifty years for Team Penske, you guys well know that. But for them to do that on the 50th Anniversary is very special and it’s really cool to be somewhat a part of that. I feel like I’m part of the team – even the Indy Car team. There are a lot of guys that are cross-pollinated throughout our company. Does it open up some resources? Maybe a little bit here and there, maybe more time for a lot of guys like maybe the machine shop opens up a little bit.
“I’m probably not the best person to answer a lot of those questions, but it is a motivational thing. I think it’s great to see that. It makes the NASCAR guys want to go out here and continue this awesome year that Team Penske has had so far, and Brad and I have a great shot at it. What if we finished one-two at Homestead? How cool would that be? We have an amazing opportunity to do that. We’ve got a long ways to go to get there, but we can do it.”
