Joey Logano admits fault in Brad Keselowski, William Byron crash, rips track conditions at Watkins Glen
Joey Logano took responsibility for the Lap 83 crash at Watkins Glen Sunday which took out both Brad Keselowski and William Byron.
Speaking with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports after the race, Logano admitted he needed to check up more before making contact with Keselowski. Logano took aim at NASCAR for not cleaning up the track before restarts, which he believes helped cause the accident.
“I just wanted to talk to him,” Logano said. “I mean really, I’m not making any excuses, I needed to check up more but the track’s a complete disaster. They need to clean it up and I got pushed maybe four-wide at one point, so tried to give room there and got up in the marbles. When I went to turn back to the left, it’s got crap all over the tires and I got into him.
“It’s still on me, right, but at the same time, clean the damn track. I brought it up at least two to three times about cleaning the track before the restarts, but it just didn’t happen.”
Brad Keselowski crew chief reacts to No. 6 car’s wild wreck: ‘Your buddy [Joey] Logano ran you over’
Keselowski and Byron found themselves buried into the wall with Byron’s right front wheel lodged into Keselowski’s window net. What preceded the accident was Logano getting into the left bumper of Keselowski, his former Team Penske teammate. That sent Keselowski sliding and into Byron, and the two hit the wall together.
After the wreck, Keselowski asked crew chief Matt McCall “What the hell happened there?” McCall responded, “Your buddy Logano ran over you.” Spotter TJ Majors added, “Cleaned out by Joey, 100%.”
Logano, who won the playoff opener last Sunday at Atlanta, finished 15th at Watkins Glen. Keselowski, meanwhile, finished 26th and fell 12 points below the cutline. Byron was credited with a P34 finish but is 25 points clear of the cutline.