While Shane van Gisbergen masterfully navigated through the 1.99-mile circuit of Sonoma, his rivals were left in a hurry. They were in a hurry to close the gap between themselves and the Kiwi as much as they could. Yet that is how Ty Gibbs landed in the thick of controversy recently. After putting a rival team’s crew member in jeopardy, the 22-year-old drew raised eyebrows from veterans, including Joey Logano. But fans called out the latter’s bluff.
‘Sliced Bread’ has been on a good streak in 2025 compared to his 2024 fortunes. Last year, Joey Logano started off on a dismal stretch that turned golden by the year-end when he clinched the 2024 Cup Series title. But along the way, he stirred no less of a controversy than Ty Gibbs.
Joey Logano probably does not practice what he preaches
Well, what Ty Gibbs did on Sunday was questionable. The No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has been on a good stretch. Dating back to Michigan 6 races ago, he has not finished worse than 14th; what is more, he led 27 laps in Mexico City and hounded SVG in Chicago as a tough road course rival. To continue this streak, Gibbs was in a hurry after losing positions due to contact from Chris Buescher. On lap 52, Gibbs led Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford into pit road. He nearly clipped Telvin McClurkin, Keselowski’s tire carrier, which sparked a physical confrontation between the 6 and 54 crews. McClurkin claimed that Gibbs “twisted his wrist” and hurt his speed in the pit stop.
NASCAR absolved Ty Gibbs of any wrongdoing, as the lead car usually has the right-of-way over the trailing-box car. Although Gibbs’ oversight was not intentional, Joey Logano chided him for being lackluster around people. He said in a Sirius XM NASCAR Radio episode: “So I watched that situation, I know this is ok to do. Don’t agree with it. Don’t agree with putting any human in line with a race car. Ever…You shouldn’t play with that in a competitive scenario like that…I don’t like playing that game with humans. They’ve got families, they have their careers, it’s their livelihood, and you’re a knife to a gunfight kind of thing where you’re driving a race car and they’re holding tires. They don’t stand a chance.”
“I watch that stuff to learn what is ok and not ok from a rules perspective”@joeylogano weighed in on the 6 and 54 team pit road scuffle earlier today on #TMDNASCAR.
Full Hour –> https://t.co/keYsFmunJW https://t.co/xsdq3VH8rQ pic.twitter.com/7vs8loKsxT
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 15, 2025
Less than a year ago, Joey Logano was caught in a similar controversy. After Austin Dillon did a bump-and-run on him to win in Richmond, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford drove by his rival’s family on the pit road. The consequences were way worse, as Logano landed a $50,000 fine. Logano referred to that as well while talking about Ty Gibbs: “You’ve got a ridiculous amount of power and responsibility driving a race car. So you’ve got to kind of look at that stuff. And all of us have made mistakes. Listen, guilty, been there, done it, things that you shouldn’t have done, I get it. In the heat of the moment, sometimes you don’t see all that stuff. But when you take a step back and you’ve done it for a while, you’ve learned a lesson.”
Despite Joey Logano mentioning his wrongdoing, NASCAR fans would not have it. They scoffed at Logano’s comments about Ty Gibbs.
Logano is still not very popular
Well, the Team Penske champion has embroiled himself in controversy many times. 2024, especially, would be a blot on Joey Logano’s career due to his antics at Richmond Raceway. Granted, both Logano and Denny Hamlin were annoyed at Austin Dillon for his last-lap pushes. But Logano smoking his tires right next to Dillon’s loved ones looked like a retaliation. Hence, most in the community did not accept Logano chiding Gibbs for his Sonoma incident. One fan wrote, “Says the guy that almost ran over the 3 crew and family in Richmond…” Logano could not stress enough the “ridiculous amount of power and responsibility.” Yet one fan reminded him that those are the very things which Joey Logano flouted in August last year: “how ironic.”
Somebody pointed out how Joey Logano is selective with his words. While he emphasized the security and safety of crew officials in Ty Gibbs‘ case, the same emphasis on humanity was not visible during his Richmond incident. The fan wrote, “Bro forgets how much of a POS he is when something else happens.” With Team Penske having already faced plenty of controversy in recent years, Logano’s ironic comments do not help. From using webbed gloves in the 2024 Atlanta race to IndyCar’s repeated scandals, Penske executives have chided their errant employees many times. One fan hoped Logano got the same scolding for his recent comments: “I do believe Joey got an ass-chewing for that?”
What is more, Joey Logano’s 2024 Cup Series championship is enshrouded in controversy. Due to NASCAR’s unpopular playoff format, Logano got away with the Cup Series title with a 17th-place finish in points. After dominating the last portion of the playoffs, Logano vehemently defended the playoffs, earning more detractors on his behalf. Hence, one fan wrote, “We don’t give one single **** about Joeys opinion.”
Clearly, Joey Logano is triggering another round of controversy about himself while dissecting Ty Gibbs’ situation. As the season rolls on, let us see what the Team Penske driver can do to restore his reputation.
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