Logano doesn't blame Hamlin for Kansas melee

Hamlin took the air off of Brad Keselowski as he attempted to pass the No. 2 Ford. He wrecked himself, Kyle Larson and Logano in process. 

Logano described the melee as just a racing deal (WATCH CRASH).

“I feel like I am one of the hardest races out there and I would be quite the hypocrite if I asked why he was racing so hard,” Logano said. “If you ask me, that is what fans show up to the race track to see. They come to watch a race. They expect us to race. They don’t expect us to just say, ‘oh, go ahead’. They expect us to race and that is what they pay money to see. I am going to race hard. I know that. I have done that in the past and I will continue to do that. 

“When Denny made that move I didn’t blame him. He made a run on the backstretch and had to do something with it. He got in a bad aero spot and both of them got loose. It happens. It is racing. I am not going to say, ‘Hey, why did you do that?’ We are racing and these things are hard to drive. We are going to make mistakes.” 

When I look at Denny’s move, I would do the same thing if I was him so I don’t really have any room to speak

Joey Logano

Without a win at Daytona — and a likely Chase berth, Hamlin would have probably been less inclined to take that type of risk. 

But it’s not the first time a driver has made a bonsai move at Kansas with less than optimal results. With the aero-dependency of the current cars combined with some of fastest speeds on the circuit, it’s easy for a driver to find him or herself in the spin cycle.

“When we go to Kansas, one of the fastest tracks we go to especially mid-corner speeds, we are relying on air so much going so fast through the corners that when you lose that air the car becomes out of control,” Logano said. “With that being said, we have made a step to the good on that with the rules package we have today. We definitely know we are going in the right direction. 

“Do we want more? Yeah, of course. We want to be able to run side-by-side and all that. Will that ever happen? It will probably never be perfect but we are making gains on it and the racing is better and we are seeing that every week. We are racing closer and we are able to see that. It is something that we are always going to rely on air when we are going fast. That is what makes speed, the aero downforce, and when you lose that the cars don’t handle as well. No matter what we are punching a hole in the air and that is part of it.”

Removing more downforce

Ryan Newman is one of several drivers who have advocated for removing more downforce from the Sprint Cup cars. As sporty as the racing was at Kansas last weekend with the current aerodynamic package, teams have clearly found ways to compensate in other areas of the car. 

Newman, who has a degree in engineering, agrees with Logano that why the racing is the best that it’s been, it can still be better. 

“We still need to take more downforce off of the cars,” Newman told motorsport.com. “I think we need to take a bigger step. At the same time, Goodyear did a good job of building a tire — but not the perfect tire. They built a tire that didn’t fail. But the tire was too fast and didn’t have enough fall off — and the combination of racing at night was not conducive to us putting being able to put on a 100 percent effort of a race, having the results in my opinion.

“Was it a good race? Yeah, I thought so. We still got to move around and use the whole race track which we haven’t seen in the past at Kansas at times — if you go back four or five years. So we’re dealing with a lot of factors that all kind of weigh in. But I feel the less downforce and changing the tire so we have more fall off will be even better.”

Up on the wheel

As Logano continues to hone his craft in Cup, he admits that his lack of aggression early in his career kept him from winning races. Over time, he’s found out what works the best for him behind the wheel — including when the opportunity is right to make certain moves. 

“There is a time and a place for it,” Logano said. “Some moves like that early in the race and you may say, “Why did you do that?’ But the fact of the matter is with 30 to go you gotta race. That is part of it. Everyone has their own way of doing it and different generations of drivers may race differently. I have seen that recently. That is just part of it. Everyone finds their own way and the way they have been brought up in racing and successful to them is going to be different and it molds you into the driver that you are.”

Still, in the closing laps of a race, Logano says all bets are off.

“There is a win on the line and it is a big deal, it is hard to do at the Sprint Cup level and anytime you have a shot it is expected out of us, not just from the fans but from the teams to go out and make the most of it and make it happen,” Logano said. “When I look at Denny’s move, I would do the same thing if I was him so I don’t really have any room to speak.”