Joey Logano: NASCAR Cup Chase 2026 Preview

Even-year Joey Logano has come out of the woodworks late in the regular season to surge to the ninth seed for the 2026 chase.

This is Logano’s ninth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series postseason appearance and 13th total.

He will enter his second chase as the ninth seed after sitting as far back as 20th in the regular season point just nine races ago at Sonoma.

Ninth might be too insurmountable to add another championship to his arsenal but he has seen a great climb to even get to the Chase once more.

Sliced Bread Short Tracks

The even year status usually provides Joey Logano with a boost, but this year that failed to arrive until the dog days of summer when it mattered most.

The third place finish in the Daytona 500 provided a sense of false hope for the No. 22 bunch. From EchoPark Speedway until the all-star break the team struggle.

Six of those 11 races the team failed to qualify within the top 20 and the finishes were somehow even worse. In the same amount of races the team started near the rear, they finished outside of the top 30.

Five races including the all-star event saw Logano involved in incidents and the team needed a stark turnaround to save their regular season.

Joey found himself still outside the Chase cutline but three solid results to kick off the back half of the regular season renewed their Chase hopes.

His next four races from Pocono, San Diego, Sonoma, and Chicagoland provided a small dip in performance. But the team and the entire series knew their time was coming.

Even before the season started Team Penske circled the final seven races of the regular season as theirs. Everyone knew they would be the team to beat at the short flat tracks and that came to fruition.

Logano dominated the Cup Series’ full-points return to North Wilkesboro and he found victory lane once more later at Richmond.

In that time, the No. 22 jumped from 20th to ninth in the standings. Even-year Joey will enter the Chase with a chance to continue that legacy.

2026 Chase Outlook

For Logano it’s never how the regular season goes its how your postseason finishes. While he enters as the ninth seed, there is still an outside chance of continuing his even-year tradition.

The series opens their Chase run at Darlington Raceway which can provide a launchpad for their title aspirations. Logano has a next-gen win there in the spring of 2022.

In the same time frame he has captured victories at three other tracks in the Chase. His strongest performances should come at Las Vegas and Phoenix where the Connecticuter has won twice at each since the current generation of car came to be.

Reality Check

The ninth seed is too far back and this is his worst statistical season since 2011 for average starting position with a 14.6. His qualifying has to improve over the final ten races in order to compete.

However, his 17.2 average finishing position nearly equals his 2024 championship season despite its underwhelming value but the chaos of the playoff system is behind the series now.

If he can dial in qualifying, boost his intermediate performance and unleash his even-season speed a top five or more could be possible in the final standings.

Ceiling: Fifth Floor: 14th

Logano’s Season Overview

2026 Stats

• 2 wins
  • North Wilkesboro, Richmond
• 1 pole
  • Phoenix
• 2 stage wins
• 5 top-five finishes, 9 top-tens, 3 DNF’s
• 14.6 avg start, 17.2 avg finish
  • Avg. Running Position of 15.952 (12th-best)
• 536 laps led (fifth-most)
  • Led season-high 323 laps in North Wilkesboro victory
• Driver Rating of 82.1 (12th-best)

Strengths

• Short Tracks
• Flat Ovals
• Even year juju

Weaknesses

• Intermediate Speed
• Starting position
• Cold Streaks