NASCAR Cup Series

MIS win puts Logano in Chase hunt

Published Aug. 19, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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To say that Sunday’s win at Michigan was huge for Joey Logano would be one of the bigger understatements of the season. Anytime you can win in our sport is huge.

Winning moved him up three spots to 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings. He’s right there with Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle, who are on the bubble to make the Chase and have at least one win with only three races to go until the Chase starts.

I felt Sunday before the race started that with all the drivers upfront who had winless streaks going, there was a very good chance one of those would break through and sure enough Joey did.

I had said Sunday that Joey was one of those who were in a “must win” situation. He was only 27 points out of the top 10, but had no wins.

The problem wasn’t the 27 points. The problem actually was being 16th in points and all those drivers he would have to leapfrog to make it into the Top 10 in points, which guarantees you an automatic spot in the Chase regardless of whether you have won or not.

So Sunday was big for Joey. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a lock yet, but there sure is a lot more hope now. He is seven points behind Martin Truex Jr. for one of the Wild Card spots. He’s also just 17 points out of the Top 10.

They have overcome so much. They’ve had two 40th-place finishes and a 25-point rules infraction penalty from Texas. You can’t look back, but stacking those three races together would have him solidly in the Chase.

The reality though is this team is red hot with only three races to go to make the Chase. Winning Sunday at Michigan was definitely a came-changer for the Joey Logano and the No. 22 team. Now the key will be to see if with only three races to go, can they take advantage of it.
 

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