March 30, 2026

Joey Logano, the No. 22 Ford driver for Team Penske, bounced back from a horrible 33rd-place run at Darlington to finish third in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Logano began the race from the ninth position and, in the first stage, showcased a car that was fast on longer green flag runs. The Penske driver went from ninth to seventh in the first stage, earning four stage points as passing became a challenge at the track throughout the day. In the second stage, Logano made up further ground as he went from seventh all the way to third by the end of the stage. He scored eight more stage points as the race transitioned to the final stage. For most of the stage, Logano ran inside the top five and made it as high as second to try and challenge Denny Hamlin for the lead. However, Logano's car was not fast enough to overtake Hamlin and then fell behind Chase Elliott, who took advantage of a pit strategy and the timing of cautions late in the race to gain track position. On the final restart, Logano went from the middle of the top 10 to finishing in third behind Elliott and Hamlin, matching his best result of the 2026 season so far and continuing his top-10 streak at Martinsville to 14 consecutive races. After seven Cup races this year, Logano is now 12th in the regular season standings.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com