Once upon a time, Joey Logano seemed easy money to make the NASCAR Cup playoffs.
Look at the steady and smooth progression. He finished eighth overall in 2013, and has since wound up fourth, sixth and second. But the 27-year-old is 13th in points this season and on a slippery slope.
He is "kinda" winless with five races to go _ Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Darlington and Richmond _ before the 16-driver cut to determine the playoff participants. Logano did win at Richmond International Raceway in April, which looked like a nice setup in a bid for his first championship.
But not quite. NASCAR determined that Logano's victory was "encumbered" and will not count toward qualifying him for a playoff spot. Logano's No. 22 team was popped for a rear-suspension violation discovered during teardown at the R&D Center in Concord, N.C.
With five other drivers in the mix who are behind on points but have a win that would squeeze Logano out of a playoff spot based on the qualification format, you can see why Logano is in such a proverbial pickle.
And then there are non-race winners who are ahead of Logano based on points. That would be veterans Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer.
Simply put, Logano is a daunting 69 points outside of the playoffs, so he needs a victory to merit a postseason position and also to hope there are no more than two other new winners.
"They are working themselves into a must-win situation," NBC racing analyst Jeff Burton said after Logano's team struggled once again in Pocono. "With the number of races left, they are really putting themselves in a bad situation. They are going to have to win a race to make the playoffs."
There were some more self-inflicted bumps and bruises at Pocono last weekend when he finished 27th but could have finished much higher. He was in the mix for a top-10 finish with 35 laps left when he committed a pit-road speeding penalty.
It then got worse. The team violated a rule that bars pit work while serving penalties when crew chief Todd Gordon made the call to change tires on Logano's car.
That's not all on Logano. For a detail-oriented owner like Roger Penske, Gordon's technical hiccups should be unacceptable.
"We've got five race tracks we've been very successful at," Gordon said. "We just have to continue to do what we've done."
Logano obviously hasn't been bad. He has eight top-5 finishes. But that simply isn't good enough. And he knows it.
"This isn't what you expect when you start the season," Logano said a few weeks back in New Hampshire. "You go out there expecting to win the championship, and the playoffs you just assume you would be there. I still assume we are going to be there. We just have to work hard to get there."
And not make mistakes that are inexcusable for a veteran driver and team.
