Team Penske driver Joey Logano has conceded that his team is facing a severe performance deficit through the opening 12 races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The admission comes ahead of the upcoming Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The three-time Cup Series champion remains winless and sits 18th in the standings.
He is 38 points below the playoff cutline after suffering six finishes of 30th or worse this year.
Logano on Team's Struggles
Logano addressed the current struggles of his team and their preparation for the 600-mile race. "I mean it's the same amount every week.
You can't do more than 100 percent. We're already at it right?
It is hard to find a little more," he said.
"Obviously, we're way behind compared to where we've been in the past and where we should be.
So we got work to do and hopefully this we can able turn around a little bit," Logano added.
The veteran driver noted that his current performance difficulties are not an entirely unfamiliar situation for the number 22 team.
"It's not far off of where we've been in the past," he said.
Logano emphasized that giving up during a difficult stretch of the season remains out of the question. "You just keep grinding.
What are you supposed to do? You can't quit," he added.
The driver remains focused on pushing forward despite the visible frustrations of the 2026 season. "You've got to keep pushing through.
It's a long season, a long way to go. Yeah, it's been tough — I can't hide from that.
It's frustrating; it's hard. I've also been here before," Logano said.
Positive Signs and Playoff Strategy
Logano explained that late-race incidents have disrupted several strong runs where his car showed competitive speed.
"I look at Texas before we got in that pit-road wreck — speed was there, car was fast, arguably the fastest car that last run as we were trying to get our way through the field," he said.
He noted that the team takes positive elements from those sessions to correct their ongoing mistakes. "I felt good about that.
There are some positives to take out of all those things. So you look at that, learn from the mistakes, and you move on," Logano stated.
Logano stated that the current playoff format forces teams to constantly evaluate how to maximize their daily points output.
"We were in that mode anyways," he continued.
He explained that strategy shifts sometimes require sacrificing individual stage positions to secure a better overall result.
"You have to look at any of these races these days like, 'OK, how do you maximize your day?'
Is that by finishing well or creating the most points possible?
Sometimes, that means giving up a stage to get the most points possible just depending on where you're at," Logano said.
Former NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick offered a critical assessment of the driver's current championship outlook on his podcast.
"I think that the 22 is probably in the worst spot of the bunch, with the expectations to race for a championship, and they're on the outside of the Chase looking in," Harvick said.
Harvick expressed doubt that the team will find the performance necessary to contend for the season title.
"The reality of the situation is they're probably not going to contend for the championship.
They might make the Chase, and they might turn their season around, but I don't see them contending for the championship," he added.
Meanwhile, Penske Vice Chairman Walt Czarnecki detailed the goals of a multi-discipline display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.
"It represented virtually all the disciplines that we've been involved in over the years," Czarnecki said.
Czarnecki noted that the exhibition serves to highlight the global scale of the racing organization.
"We wanted to demonstrate, as I said, the breadth of our involvement in motorsports, not only in North America.
I don't think there's any other team that has had that experience at that participation level, but overseas as well," he said.
Former Penske Supercars driver Scott McLaughlin is scheduled to start ninth for the upcoming 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.
