NASCAR: Joey Logano 2023 Season In Review

Published By: NASCAR.com | Jerry Bonkowski | 12.14.23

Season in review:
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Crew chief:
Paul Wolfe
Final 2023 Ranking:
12
Key stats:
1 wins, 11 top fives, 17 top 10s, 308 laps led

How 2023 ended:
After winning the NASCAR Cup championship for the second time in his career in 2022, a 2023 title defense was filled with tough luck for Logano, who finished 12th in the driver standings. Logano was not able to advance in the playoffs after an early exit in the Round of 16 at Bristol – the first reigning champ to be eliminated in the opening round. However, to Logano’s credit, he rallied back in the final races by collecting three top-10 finishes at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway in the second half of the postseason.

Best race:
Logano’s best race was winning the spring event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Not only did he start from the pole, he also dominated the afternoon, leading 140 of the race’s 260 laps.

Other season highlights:
Logano strongly started the season off on the right foot, finishing runner-up in the Daytona 500. No. 22 had the same number of top-five (11) and top-10 (17) finishes in 2022 and 2023. The No. 22 team showed that it still has the juice to fight for wins after making a crucial pit call for Logano to set him up for a fifth-place finish at the Kansas fall race.

Stat to know:
After winning his second Cup championship in 2022, Logano was considered by many observers as the driver to beat in 2023. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t turn out that way. His 12th-place finish in the final standings was his second-lowest season finish since he was 17th in both 2012 and 2017. Even though he finished 12th, the perennial title contender has made the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs 10 of the last 11 seasons (he failed to do so in 2017).

Quotable:
“It means a lot to get this one in Victory Lane. It’s been a lot of years coming. Atlanta, this means so much to me to win here. So many memories of driving my Legends car right here where we’re standing when I was 9 years old. This is a really special one and a dream come true.” – Logano on his first Cup win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Looking ahead:
Look for Logano to come back strong in 2024, especially since teammate Ryan Blaney won the Cup crown in 2023. Combined with Logano’s title in 2022, that gave Team Penske back-to-back championships for the first time in team history. It also was Team Penske’s fourth Cup championship since 2012 (Brad Keselowski in 2012, Logano in 2018 and 2022, and Blaney in 2023).