Why Joey Logano views WWT Raceway as his real playoff lifeline

Joey Logano enters the second race of the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 16 already feeling the urgency. Last weekend at Darlington, he could only finish 20th, leaving him three points shy of Shane van Gisbergen for the final transfer spot.

Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (September 7) is now less about points padding and more about survival. With Bristol looming as the elimination race, the reigning champion sees this flat 1.25-mile oval as his clearest path to the next round. Logano admitted this week (via NBC):

"Bristol is something we’ve talked a lot about already. On the concrete with the Next Gen car hasn’t been our wheelhouse... that’s why Gateway this weekend is an ultra-important weekend."

Since the arrival of the Next Gen car, Bristol’s concrete has offered little comfort to Joey Logano. In five races there he has not cracked the top 20, his best finish a distant 22nd, and a 2023 playoff exit at that venue still lingers.

Gateway has been a friendlier ground for Logano. The Team Penske driver won the inaugural Cup race there in 2022, followed by third and fifth-place runs in 2023 and 2024. The shape of the track, with long straights and tight corners, is the style the No. 22 dominates. He views the layout as aligned with other venues where Penske setups thrive.

"It just seems like for us right now most of the time our cars are pretty fast at the flat 1-mile type racetracks, whether that’s Phoenix, Gateway, Loudon, Richmond kind of falls in there, but it’s quite a bit of a different track as well, but it’s similar speed-wise. It seems like we have a pretty good handle on that type of thing and that type of track, so hopefully that’s the case again."

Joey Logano’s playoff pedigree reinforces the optimism. 15 of his 37 Cup Series wins have come in postseason races, including three during last year’s title run. Even in a subdued 2025 season, with just one top-five in the last five events, he has shown the ability to peak when pressure mounts.

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"I don’t know what this tire will bring": New Goodyear tire package adds intrigue for Joey Logano

Joey Logano during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day. Source: Imagn

One unknown waiting for the field is the tire. Goodyear introduces new left- and right-side Eagles at Gateway, a compound built off a June test here with Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Larson. It is the same combination that Cup teams raced at Iowa Speedway earlier this summer.

While the Xfinity Series hasn’t visited Gateway in 15 years, its Phoenix outing in March used the same build, giving many crews at least some data. And Joey Logano is cautious.

"It doesn’t seem like we’ve had a lot of fall off there in the past. I don’t know what this tire will bring, possibly more, but with the lack of tire fall off that’s been there in the past, the strategy, if you get a caution that falls in the middle of a stage, it really jumbles it up like it did last year and it can happen again."

Team Penske's pit calls could swing track position. If wear increases, crew chiefs may call stops differently. If not, staying out could again shuffle the order after cautions.

The Illinois oval’s blend of short-track braking zones and intermediate-style speeds has historically rewarded clean execution. With Bristol’s uncertainty looming, the Enjoy Illinois 300 stands as Joey Logano’s lifeline.

Penske’s setups have matched well with this track, and his record is spotless. A win erases every playoff worry, but failing to capitalize, and the title defense could hinge on a venue that has repeatedly punished him.