Joey Logano sends Justin Haley into the wall early in Verizon 200

Right when this race was starting to get into a groove, Justin Haley found himself getting sent off the track by Joey Logano and into the wall. The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series winner hopped a turn and couldn’t stop his No. 22 Ford from hitting Haley.

Just as we thought the race was going to get into a rhythm, caution. There was a lot of contact early on lap one. However, this move from Joey Logano was more than just a little bump. Haley had some speed going when he found the tire barrier.

I don’t know if the 31 and 22 are going to have a talk about this after the race, but I’m sure the Kaulig Racing driver is mad as hell. Good news for William Byron as he gets the caution just after his pass-through penalty.

Joey Logano into Justin Haley!

Haley INTO the tire barrier!

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— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 13, 2023

Soon after, the field would restart and Joey Logano would once again find himself in an incident. This time, he was into the rear of his teammate Ryan Blaney and ended up spinning out at Turn 1. Soon, Logano was back in 35th and trying to figure out what went wrong.

The Indy Road Course is infamous for a couple of tough turns. That Turn 1 is one of them. Drivers will have to be careful on this track. A lot is up for grabs as far as the playoffs are concerned. While Logano has his spot locked up, other drivers are desperate.

Joey Logano might be lost at Indy

After his early hit on Justin Haley and his spin soon after, Joey Logano might just be lost in the field at this point. It is hard to come back on this track from so far back. Unless a number of cautions come out and the field flips on strategy, it doesn’t look great for the 22-team.

This is another reminder of how hard the NASCAR season can be. The defending champion is struggling at this point in the season and hasn’t had a lot to be happy about recently. Then again, that is about how his year went in 2022 until he got to the playoffs.

The big story isn’t about Logano in this race. Unless he somehow rallies from 35th place, we won’t see much of him in this event. The real battle early on is between Michael McDowell and Daniel Suárez. Don’t count out Chase Elliott, either.

Joey Logano is going to have a long day at the Indy Road Course. Two early mistakes have been costly and now he will have to figure out something else if he wants to salvage the weekend.