Joey Logano embraces boos after advancing in NASCAR Playoffs over Ross Chastain

With a P20 finish today at the Roval, Joey Logano did just enough to advance in the NASCAR Playoffs over Ross Chastain. It came down to one point, that is, until Chastain sent his car into Denny Hamlin’s in the final chicane. Logano finished ahead of Chastain and made the Round of 8 with a few points to spare.

Ross Chastain tried to make another Hail Melon-type move. It didn’t work this time. Instead, he ended up having to back up over the start-finish line along with Hamlin. Shane van Gisbergen had already finished the race by almost an entire lap as all of this went on.

Of course, Joey Logano was all smiles after the race. He is advancing to the Round of 8, and Las Vegas is waiting for him there. He has won Vegas in the fall two of the last three seasons, corresponding with his championship seasons.

As Logano spoke on USA after the race, his smile got bigger. The crowd began to boo him as he popped up on the big screen. Logano simply embraced it and rubbed it in their faces even more.

“Yeah, everyone was telling me how close it was going to be there. Gosh, what a…that [for] me? That means they’re booing that? Oh well,” Joey Logano said on the broadcast. “Hey, we’re still in, we’re still alive, baby! We’re still going! I’m so excited. Such a close finish there, and yeah, knew it was within a point there. I knew we were going to be tied there at the end, and Ross was going to do whatever he had to do to make it happen. Just wasn’t quite fast enough with our car, but overall, man, it’s the drama of the playoffs.

“If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there, and to come down to you know, like you said, a tie there basically at the end before the wreck. So, proud of Paul Wolfe. [He] made some really hard calls today. Three-stopping the end there, kind of an audible there at the end, as our fall off was a little bit too much. So, making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us there in the game with just a few left. That’s a championship performance from the team. Wish I was a little faster, but overall, I couldn’t be more proud of the team, and we still got a shot.”

Look, if you want to stop Joey Logano from winning another championship, you have to stop him in the Round of 12. Looking back at the last four times Logano has advanced to the Championship 4, he has won the first race of the Round of 8: 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024. While everyone harps on the odd-numbered year, that doesn’t mean anything. It is a coincidence, if anything.

All I know is that Logano has three top-five finishes in the last five races. That kind of momentum, even with a poor finish at Kansas and the Roval, could be enough to carry him to the Championship 4. Everyone else in the Round of 8 is on notice, now.