Logano learned Tuesday morning that former Atlanta Braves power hitter Chipper Jones had weighed in on last Sunday’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, using social media to aggressively denounce the three-time NASCAR champion’s actions during the Jack Link’s 500. Jones was critical of Logano’s team radio transmissions, where he tore into teammate and eventual race winner Austin Cindric for going against the strategy plans at the end of Stage 2, costing the team a stage victory and points. “Good teammates are hard to come by,” Jones said, among other pointed critiques.
“I found out he really doesn’t like me,” Logano said from [North Wilkesboro]’s Turn 4 hospitality area. “So I’m surprised that a professional athlete would act in that manner, because he’s been through it, right? Like, I say it all the time. I am very careful to form an opinion on an athlete by their emotions or the way they play the game, because I know from being in that position, when there’s that much on the line in a competitive environment, you act a certain way, because you’re out there to win, right? And then you’ve got to be able to shut that off. I would have assumed him being the athlete that he is and was that he would understand that and not mouth off on social media like somebody that’s never played the sport before or a sport.
The disagreement among the Team Penske teammates stemmed from their tactics in the last lap of Stage 2 at Talladega. Cindric’s No. 2 Ford led the outside line with Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry pushing him in the affiliated No. 21 Mustang. When Logano shifted his No. 22 Ford up a lane, in an effort to stall the momentum of race leader Bubba Wallace and form an all-Ford line to charge to the green-checkered flag, Cindric moved a lane higher. His decision not to push Logano disrupted their formation, and Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota cruised to the stage victory.
Logano told SiriusXM that, in retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have keyed his microphone to air out fiery remarks that became public knowledge in an instant. But the 34-year-old veteran said his view of the Stage 2 moves hadn’t wavered, even after talking it through with his teammate.
Logano drove on to take the checkered flag in fifth place behind Cindric, but his hardships mounted in the hours after Sunday’s event. The No. 22 Ford was disqualified after post-race inspection, where competition officials said they found an infraction in the rear-spoiler braces, which were not securely fastened. Team Penske officials did not appeal the penalty, saying that one of the 18 bolts on the spoiler’s surface had unintentionally come loose where it connects to the base.
“There’s a lot of bad things that come along with the penalty,” Logano said. “And, you know, Team Penske, we’re not the people that, like, blatantly are going to go out there and cheat. It’s not who we are. It was a mistake that essentially, the nut came off the bolt back there on the brace, and the bowl was still in there, but it does — and I said on the radio show this morning — it does cause a little deflection, I’m sure, in the spoiler. Does it give you a competitive advantage? I’m sure it does a little bit. Did it change where we finished in the race? No, because everyone was locked down two-wide, so it doesn’t make a difference, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s not by the rules, so you’ve got to accept the penalty. And the penalty, I mean, it hurts. There’s no doubt.”
