Team Penske leans on RWR to address Joey Logano’s major Richmond issue

NASCAR Cup Series defending champion Joey Logano faced a major hiccup at the Cook Out 400 scheduled on Saturday, August 16, at Richmond Raceway. The team missed the qualifying lap, leaving them with no resources to qualify for the race.

Logano has been consistently securing a spot among the top 15 drivers on the grid during the qualifying sessions for the past few races. The #22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver even landed a pole position during the second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June 2025. However, things went south during the qualifying session for the 300-mile race at Richmond Raceway.

After missing the qualifying lap, Team Penske was left with no scuffs to race, leaving them with no tires of their own to qualify. The team then went to Rick Ware Racing and got a set from the #51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Reflecting on the same, NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass wrote:

"Joey Logano has the RWR No. 51 set of qualifying scuffs from yesterday. Since they didn’t make a qualifying lap, had to either use practice scuffs or get a set of scuffs from another team and got them from Ware. Ware would then not have a set of scuffs or use its practice set."

Bob Pockrass

@bobpockrass

Joey Logano has the RWR No. 51 set of qualifying scuffs from yesterday. Since they didn’t make a qualifying lap, had to either use practice scuffs or get a set of scuffs from another team and got them from Ware. Ware would then not have a set of scuffs or use its practice set.

Joey Logano qualified 38th for the 400-lap Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. Meanwhile, Rick Ware Racing driver Cody Ware began the 300-mile race from P37, one spot ahead of Logano.

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Joey Logano aims for a"sweet redemption" at Richmond Raceway after Austin Dillon's controversial finish last year

Team Penske driver Joey Logano was featured in an interview with NASCAR ahead of the 300-mile Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. During the interaction, Logano recalled Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon's controversial finish last year at the track.

In the 2024 Cup Series season, Dillon was desperate for a win to qualify for the playoffs, and he got his chance during the 400-lap race. During the final laps of the race, Logano took the lead from the RCR driver, shattering his chances of qualifying for the playoffs and snapping his two-year winless streak.

Reflecting on what was at stake, the #3 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver went berserk on the track and drove far deeper into Turn 3 on the race's final lap. He then made contact with Joey Logano's rear bumper, sending him spinning into the wall. However, this was not enough to win the race. Dillon then pushed Denny Hamlin into the outside walls and took home the win.

The #22 driver reviewed the final lap of the race again before this year's Cook Out 400 and shared his thoughts on the same. He told the media:

“I did. It made me mad again."

“The result didn’t change, unfortunately. But yeah, obviously, I have to rewatch things to prepare and things like that. But yeah, it’s a year ago, so you’ve got to move forward here at some point. So, just got to go get sweet redemption, right? Go out there and win the race that we had won,” he added.

However, three days later, the sanctioning body revoked Austin Dillon's playoff eligibility for intentionally wrecking the Team Penske driver. Denny Hamlin finished the 408-lap event in P2; meanwhile, Logano was in P19.