Joey Logano wrecks out of Bristol Night Race, faces playoff elimination

Bad luck hit the 22 when he didn’t need it. Joey Logano got hit after Corey LaJoie spun around and went up the track, ending his night. Logano, the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, is now facing elimination in the Round of 16. The defending champ has never been eliminated in the first round before.

Joey Logano wasn’t having a great night. He was running near the rear of the field as the final stage was getting underway. Corey LaJoie dove down low, got loose next to Erik Jones, and spun around. He went down the track, came up, and that’s when he caught the field.

LaJoie got into Logano and JJ Yeley. Justin Haley and Ty Dillon were also involved in this incident. Just two points above the cutline, Logano is likely going to find himself eliminated after tonight’s race.

He needs some other drivers to crash like he did.

The No. 7 slides back into traffic and @joeylogano is involved! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/WQDS2kwWpA

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 17, 2023

“You go down a lap, you’re in the back at Bristol on the restart, they wreck in front of you, you get caught up in stuff,” Logano said after being released from the care center.

“Just really couldn’t get a handle on it, so. It’ll take a miracle at this point.”

If Joey Logano is going to make the Round of 12, he needs cars like Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and others to wreck or fall behind multiple laps. If that isn’t possible, then there isn’t much hope that the 22 team is going to advance in the playoffs.

Joey Logano facing elimination at Bristol

The bad news for Logano, everyone else, for now, is running well. The cars he needs to falter are in position to either run up front or to flip the pit strategy and advance their position if a timely caution comes out. Advancing at this point for Logano is going to take, like Logano said, a miracle.

Between the defending champion and the current regular season champion, there has been a lot of struggle for two of the Cup Series’ most talented drivers. Right now, they are both betting against one another as far as elimination is concerned.

Once again, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are having great races. Christopher Bell swept both stages and won his third pole in three weeks leading up to the race. However, the rookie Ty Gibbs is hoping to play spoiler and take that automatic bid into the Round of 12 away from a playoff driver.

A surprising performance, Michael McDowell, who has run in the top-10 almost all day, might be able to point his way into the Round of 12 after being 40 points below the cutline.

Bristol is a great race for this elimination drama and we are likely going to see more heartbreak like Joey Logano before the night is over.