JOEY LOGANO HAD INSTANT EXPLANATION AFTER RUINING CHASE ELLIOTT'S RACE

Chase Elliott's chances of winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway were ruined by Joey Logano when they crashed during the final stage. Logano collided with Elliott and span out the NASCAR Cup Series points leader, but quickly confirmed it was caused by an issue in the right front.

Elliott started on pole at New Hampshire and restarted at 11th during the final stage of Sunday's race on lap 194/301.

Logano lined up just behind him in 12th but crashed into Elliott on the first turn as his car failed. Logano told his team radio that something had broken in the front, and couldn't complete the left turn which forced him into Elliott.

Both cars were dealt major damage but continued to run, although Elliott and Logano continued towards the back of the group. Although the crash was a major blow to Cup Series leader Elliott, it may hurt Logano's playoff chances.

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Ahead of Sunday's race, Logano was 15th in the standings and minus-6 in the provisional playoff rankings as he remains on the bubble. Logano is yet to win this season but feels confident about his chances with eight races remaining before the playoffs begin.

A win in New Hampshire would have helped, but even before the race and the crash incident, Logano claimed he wasn't feeling the pressure. "It doesn't really change much. To be honest, it puts you in playoff mode a little bit sooner because you're racing as if you're in the playoffs," Logano told reporters on Saturday.

However, Logano then went on to explain how any problems with the car at this stage can be catastrophic. "You're already in, and you're just racing to get playoff points anywhere you can," Logano added. "You can't take as big of risks on certain things because you can't afford last week to blow a tire.

"You can't afford to do it. It definitely adjusts some of your setup choices, some of the way you drive, and some of the way you call the race in general. It goes through your mind. It has to go through your mind. At the same time, you still know what a win's worth. So you got to go out there and win the race."

Despite being confident about making the playoffs, Logano is under no illusion that his current position in the standings is ideal at this stage. "I feel good about our chances of getting in," Logano said. "But, it's not as comfortable as we want it to be. That's for sure.

"I think the team does a good job being under pressure. Our team knows how to handle it. Because we've been in the playoffs so many times, we put ourselves in the championship so many times that we know how to handle these situations when your back's up against the wall. ... It's not fun, but it's not out of the norm for us either to know how to handle these types of scenarios."

2024-06-23T23:09:27Z dg43tfdfdgfd