Joey Logano Forced to Eat His Words After Ignorant Rant Landed Him in Hot Water

Joey Logano was fuming when the checkered flag was waved. The reigning champ was on the verge of defending his All-Star Race win from 2024, only to finish 0.829 seconds behind Christopher Bell at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Logano has never been the most gracious loser, but he surprised everyone by saying that Christopher Bell “kind of just ran me up into the wall.” It was evident that emotions were running high for the No. 22 Ford driver, but perhaps that’s what gives him an edge on the racetrack.

However, time has a unique way of changing perspectives, even for a driver as competitive as Joey Logano. In a surprising turn of events, the three-time Cup Series winner took a dramatic U-turn and took back his comments regarding Christopher Bell.

Joey Logano shifts his stance after the race review

It was a heated battle. Joey Logano was in the lead at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and was hopeful of keeping Christopher Bell at bay despite his rival having fresh Goodyear’s during the closing stages. Both drivers dueled for much of the last 20 laps, with the Team Penske racer blocking the No. 20 Toyota and attempting to take his lane away. Meanwhile, Bell looked to capitalize on an opening and eventually got under Logano with just nine laps to go. From that point on, there was no looking back.

Now that the anger had subsided, Joey Logano had a completely different view with regard to how the closing laps played out. Taking back his words, the racer told NBC Sports, “When I went back and re-watched it, I was like, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. If he did that (move Logano up the track) the first time he got to me, I’d be like, ‘Dude, why would you do that?’ But he made solid attempts to pass me. I ran him all up and down the racetrack. So I opened the door.”

Logano knows what it takes to win at North Wilkesboro. His No. 22 Ford led a staggering 199 out of 200 laps in the All-Star Race last year, and he was determined to maintain his lead after leading 139 laps at the short track. However, in hindsight, the racer humbly accepted his mistake by saying, “I set the tone that we’re going to race like assholes. It’s OK that he did that to me. But in the moment you’re just pissed, right? You’re just like, ‘He ran me up the track.’ Then when I watched it, I was like, ‘Nah, it’s probably warranted.’”

#NASCAR … A day after finishing 2nd in All-Star Race, Joey Logano takes back critical comments of how Christopher Bell raced him for the win.https://t.co/JeQLaOoY2q

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) May 20, 2025

The Connecticut native wasn’t just upset at Bell, but at Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith as well for the timing of the promoter’s caution. The Lap 216 yellow flag proved to be the difference maker in the end, and Joey Logano went on an emotional rant in the post-race interview, going on to say, “Me and Marcus Smith aren’t seeing eye to eye right now.” However, the ‘real’ problem wasn’t the caution itself, but the No. 22 team’s strategy, as the racer stayed out along with five others while the rest of the grid went into the pits.

Hamlin reveals what made the difference at North Wilkesboro

The result could have gone either way. At least that’s what Denny Hamlin believes, even though a dominant Christopher Bell sliced through the grid effortlessly during the closing stages of the All-Star Race. Joey Logano and his No. 22 crew took a gamble of holding onto their track position, and it almost worked. However, beating the new Goodyear’s proved to be a task just a little beyond the 34-year-old’s reach, but the veteran racer couldn’t help but feel that Team Penske’s strategy was on point when the promoter’s caution was waved.

Sharing his thoughts on the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said, “Truthfully, I thought it was the right call to stay out when I saw that he had five people staying out with him. So many of these restarts results on whether they’re a success or a failure comes down to what happens on the first few corners. I’m pretty certain of this is that I watched the first corner and had Christopher Bell not been able to get to the inside of Carson Hocevar, he doesn’t win the race. But he got three cars in that first lap, and that’s when it was over.”

Joey Logano’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, also felt that the result at North Wilkesboro Speedway was a missed opportunity. The No. 22 crew banked on the five other cars, including teammate Ryan Blaney, to slow down incoming traffic, but as luck would have it, the No. 12 “had an issue off [Turn] 4 there and got sideways.” It just wasn’t meant to be this time around, but the heartbreak will motivate the racer to go all guns blazing at the Coca-Cola 600. Could Logano redeem himself at the crown-jewel event? Let us know in the comments!

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