Joey Logano has questioned the ‘good ol’ days’ of Bristol Motor Speedway. He believes the ‘bump and run’ racing that was popular in the day isn’t so easy with the Next Gen cars.
Bristol racing has seen its ups and downs in recent years. The 2025 spring race was a rather dull affair, with Kyle Larson leading 411 of the 500 laps. The lack of passing was attributed to poor tire degradation, and Goodyear decided to up the ante for the Bristol night race.
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The tire manufacturer brought softer compounds that led to rapid falloff and corded sets. What ensued was a chaotic race with 14 race leaders and a surprise winner in Christopher Bell.
The series now returns to the half-mile concrete under the new Chase format. In an interview with Jeff Gluck, Logano spoke his mind on the track’s past.
“There was a moment where everyone thought that every car needed to be glued to the bottom like the Old Bristol and the only way to pass some them was to knock them out of the way,” said Logano, “And that’s what good racing looked like.”
I don’t know if that’s the case, you know, like we have a habit in our sport of always going back and saying those were the good old days. Those were better than what we got now. Was the Old Bristol great? Sure, well, there’s a lot of variables that were different too, though not just the track now like the cars are way different,” he added.
Joey Logano noted that bump and run racing is difficult when ‘everyone’s running the same line’. He also pointed out that the old cars had shovel front noses that were better suited for such racing.
Logano is currently ranked outside the top-10 standings with two top-5s in seven races. He’s placed 12th with 185 points to his name, while his teammate Ryan Blaney leads him by ten spots in second.
“I’m not okay”: Joey Logano on his poor start to 2026
Joey Logano had a hopeful start with a third place at Daytona 500, but has recorded subpar results since. Martinsville is the only other highlight with a podium finish.
Logano was a major proponent of the win-and-you’re-in playoff format. He’s now massively disadvantaged by the points system, where season-long conistency draws more emphasis.
Ahead of the Bristol race weekend, Logano spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR radio and reflected upon his points standing.
“I’m not okay. But to tell, we shouldn’t be okay with it either. But, you know, I mean, the points are where they are, right? Like there’s not what you can do about it right now,” he said.
Joey Logano stressed that he’ll keep grinding since there’s a long way to go in the season.
Edited by Vignesh Kanna
