Joey Logano assesses blame for wreck with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Daytona 500

A huge wreck late in the Daytona 500 took out many of the top contenders in The Great American Race, including Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch.

After the incident, where it looked like Stenhouse Jr. was a bit indecisive and Logano had nowhere to go, starting the whole wreck, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion spoke with FOX’s Bob Pockrass, where he assessed the blame for a moment that wiped out some tremendous competitors.

“The No. 47 had a bit of an indecisive moment, and that’s what gets us in trouble at times, when you’re not going to pick one,” Logano stated, regarding Stenhouse’s move. “I went to the second lane. It felt like I had to get in front of the No. 47 there. I had to get to the second car in the row, to have a chance to win the race. Saw my opportunity to get down in front of the No. 4 with Noah. Thought like we could’ve worked well together there. Just seemed like I was there.

“He had a late block. I lifted. Looked like he was going to go back up. I went to go back in there. Then, he came back down. I started lifting again. At that point, the check up was so big that all the cars behind me are just shoving me into him, and you’re — at that point, you’re along for the ride. So, I don’t know like, what to do different in that moment.

“It’s easy to see just don’t make the move, but not making the move doesn’t win the race either. It’s just — yeah, late in the race, and a late block kind of got us all in trouble.”

All told, it seemed as if Stenhouse Jr. and Logano both didn’t want to let up, and it’s tough to blame them, as their chance at Victory Lane was on the line. Regardless, Logano is getting no love from Busch following the moment, as the two-time champion called out his longtime peer after seeing the replay.

“Looks like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck,” Busch said, via a post-race interview on FOX. “Logano was by far the fastest car today. Saw a lot of laps led and he could about do anything. The Penske cars were very strong. We still got 20 laps to go and he’s trying to go through the middle and make a hole that isn’t there. Just created chaos.”

Only one driver is usually satisfied after the Daytona 500, and it was William Byron once again in 2025. Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch will go back to the drawing board, and wonder how they let this one slip away.