Joey Logano slams ‘comical’ NASCAR Damaged Vehicle Policy after Talladega wreck

Joey Logano was one of a record 28 drivers involved in the Lap 183 “Big One” during Sunday’s Round of 12 race at Talladega.

Logano’s No. 22 Ford sustained enough damage that he was unable to complete the final four laps of the race. Other drivers felt they had minimal damage where it could be repaired on pit road. The only problem, however, is that they were stuck in the infield grass. Those who remained in the infield grass stuck it out in hopes of finally being able to move as under the Damaged Vehicle Policy, unless you have four flat tires, a tow back to pit road would mean your race is over.

The scene in Turn 3 at Talladega was one of chaos and confusion, with members of NASCAR‘s safety team trying to clear the track. Logano took aim at NASCAR for the confusion, describing the scene in Turn 3 as “comical” and “goofy.”

Joey Logano says he's at a loss over how to superspeedway race with this generation of car and called the DVP towing process 'comical' pic.twitter.com/Y8GngJ9bAK

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) October 6, 2024

“I don’t know yet,” Logano said, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “I didn’t feel it go up, but I had some stuff broken too. So, it’s kind of hard to say if the lift system worked or not. But it’s kind of comical. I get out of the car, and I just see a bunch of cars that after a red flag we’ve been sitting there for 10 minutes. Everyone’s just sitting there hoping they can roll a little bit. It’s just goofy.”

Joey Logano, drivers call out NASCAR over confusion after massive Talladega wreck

Logano was far from the only one confused by the entire ordeal. Josh Berry, one of the many drivers involved in the wreck, sarcastically made light of the inconsistency with the policy.

“All I know, is that all those cars parked in Turn 3 better not get towed to pit road buddy. Because that’d be breaking the Damaged Vehicle Policy,” Berry said, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “Fu*king 42 car is out there doing burnouts, slinging rubber all over the safety workers trying to get going. But if you have four flat tires and you get towed to pit road, you’re done right?”

As for Logano, he fell below the playoff cutline courtesy of his P33 result. He is now 13 points off the pace heading into next Sunday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Logano said he didn’t have much fun at Talladega, criticizing the Next Gen car’s performance at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.

“I didn’t even have fun today,” Logano said. “You can’t even do anything here. You’re running four-wide, that looks cool but you’re running half throttle and then when you wanna go and it’s time to go, everyone’s just stuck two-wide. So, there’s just not many moves you can make. You just keep trying to re-learn how to run on these superspeedways as it evolves but the car has just got so much drag on it, you can’t make many moves, make runs happen and cross people up. You’re committed to where you are in that line.”