CREW CHIEF: Paul Wolfe
TEAM: Team Penske
POINTS: Cup Series Champion
WINS: Four (Darlington I, Gateway, Las Vegas II, Phoenix II)
LAPS LED: 784
TOP 5s: 11
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TOP 10s: 17
QUALIFIED FIRST: Four times (Darlington I, Darlington II, Charlotte Roval, Phoenix II)
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Logano had an up-and-down season, but when the playoffs arrived he was decidedly “up.”
He led 64 laps from the pole and finished fourth in the playoff opener at Darlington, where he had won earlier in the year. That Darlington victory ended a 40-race winless streak and came at the expense of William Byron, who received a bump from Logano with two laps to go.
Logano moved through the playoffs with a second at Texas, a win at Las Vegas (taking the lead with three laps to go) and near-total domination of the championship finale at Phoenix, where he won the pole, led 167 laps and finished first.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Logan failed to win in the season’s first 11 races before breaking through at Darlington.
In the middle part of the season, he had finishes of 17th, 20th, 27th, 26th, 24th and 20th as the team struggled to find the proper balance with the Next Gen car. Over a 16-race stretch, he failed to lead a lap in nine events.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023: Logano’s career win total has reached 31, and his second championship solidifies his status as a Hall-of-Famer in waiting. With Paul Wolfe, one of the sport’s best crew chiefs, still on board, Logano is likely to reach toward another title in 2023.