NASCAR senior official responds to Joey Logano's concerns post-Pocono race: “Towing them back is not ideal”

Team Penske driver and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano's outing last weekend at Pocono Raceway was forgettable, to say the least. The #22 Ford Mustang driver retired from the 400-mile-long race amongst the Long Pond mountains in Pennsylvania after crashing out of Stage 2 of the event.

Daniel Suarez was also seen spinning off at the same time as Logano lost control of his Next Gen car, making heavy contact with the outside wall. While Suarez's car was rendered inoperable after the incident, Joey Logano's #22 Ford sat motionless in Turn 1 at the 2.5-mile-long track, before being dragged into the pits by one of the recovery haulers/wreckers.

Unable to repair his car within the seven-minute damaged vehicle policy, the 33-year-old expressed frustration with the way his car was recovered in the pits. Citing a need for putting new tires in the racetrack instead of dragging the car, Logano termed the move 'stupid'.

In light of the comments made by Joey Logano, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer gave the sport's view on Logano's concerns. He elaborated in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, saying:

"Towing them all the way around again, 2 miles, was not ideal. But that's really what we had to do in that circumstance. Towing them or pushing them is not ideal but it is what we have today, and as far as putting tires and a jack, an electric impact in the back of a chase vehicle, I'm not gonna say that's not on the table that's pretty far down the priority list."

While Joey Logano might disagree with NASCAR's method of handling his stricken car this time, he would have had a different thought if he was the one riding around during caution laps as the safety crew recovered vehicles meticulously.

Joey Logano's thoughts on NASCAR's decision to drag his stricken car around Pocono Raceway

Joey Logano certainly did not appreciate being dragged around two miles of the Pocono Raceway, sitting in a car with four flat tires as the Team Penske driver made it very clear post-race.

In an interview with Dalton Hopkins from frontstretch,com, Logano said:

“It’s just dumb that we can’t just put 4 tires on a truck with a jack and an impact instead of just dragging the car two miles around the race track. It’s just stupid."

Watch the #22 Ford Mustang driver try his luck at getting into the 2023 playoffs this weekend at Richmond Raceway.