Getty Joey Logano before qualifying.
Larry McReynolds is affectionately known as America’s Crew Chief. Like the old EF Hutton commercials used to say, when Larry Mac talks, people listen. During the May 29 “On Track Show” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the two-time Daytona 500-winning crew chief discussed one of the hot topics of conversation in NASCAR circles — the potential playoff waiver for Kyle Larson after he ran the Indianapolis 500 but missed the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 — and took issue with what Joey Logano had to say about it.
@joeylogano received a lot of feedback after his comments on the playoff waiver, including some words from America’s Crew Chief, @LarryMac28.
“Let’s continue with the Joey Logano interview,” McReynolds said on the show. “He said, ‘What if I decide — I win a race and I decide to take a week off and go to the Bahamas.’ Come on, Joey. Really? Seriously? Are we really apples and apples here? Are we even both in the food group for Pete’s sake?
“And I heard him say, ‘What if I decided to go run a big dirt late model race?’ Really? Are we comparing apples to apples?”
Joey Logano Offered His Thoughts on Playoff Waiver
Joey Logano regularly appears on SiriusXM for an hour-long segment and talks about the previous race, the performance of his No. 22 team, and any other headlines arising from the weekend. During the May 27 “Behind the Wheel” segment, the two-time champion shared his thoughts on Larson receiving a playoff waiver.
“This is about the grayest rule we have in our sport,” Logano said. “It can be black and white, but it’s not. And so it’s pretty gray. And here’s some scenarios where it can get gray. It’s one thing if you get hurt in the race car. That’s black and white in my opinion. If you’re driving a Cup car, you get hurt, well, in a NASCAR Cup car, the waiver makes sense to where you can still compete in the playoffs.
“If you get in a car accident driving down the road, does that deserve a waiver? Maybe. If you weren’t speeding down the highway driving like an idiot, maybe. The scenario that happened last year, Chase Elliott gets hurt snowboarding. Do you get a waiver there? Pretty gray.”
🤔 “This is about the grayest rule we have in our sport.” – @joeylogano
The 2-time champion weighs in on the discourse surrounding @KyleLarsonRacin getting a waiver for missing the #CocaCola600.
🗣️ “He put IndyCar ahead of NASCAR. That’s the facts.”
“I don’t know the right answer, but we all know what happened. This scenario, let’s be honest here — super cool what Kyle Larson did. Running The Double. Awesome. He got backed into the worst position possible for the scenario that happened, right? Because of the rain delay of the Indy 500, all that. But he chose, it’s his decision, he decided the Indy 500 is more important than the Coca-Cola 600.
“He made that decision or his people, whoever is part of it. He made the decision. He put IndyCar ahead of NASCAR. That’s the facts, right or wrong. I don’t know, waiver or not. I don’t know. I’m not here to make that decision, but the facts are he thought IndyCar racing was a bigger race than NASCAR racing that day.”
Several minutes later, Logano talked about other possible gray areas for the waiver and made the comments that got the attention of McReynolds.
“Let’s just say next week we win at Gateway,” the Team Penske driver suggested. “That would be great. And I decide, you know what, eh, there’s this race in Le Mans I want to run. Let’s just say I want to run that. Can I do that? Shoot. Say I just want to take a week off. Can I do that? Like it opens a can of worms is what I’m trying to say.
“What can I — so maybe I want to run a late model somewhere. Can I do that? I said it’s the grayest thing we have in our sport. It’s there’s no black-and-white answer to this one or there can be, but we don’t. We don’t treat it that way.”
Logano Responds to Feedback
The videos of Logano’s remarks posted on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio account have received more than 580,000 views. Unsurprisingly, many fans, like McReynolds, questioned what the 33-year-old driver had to say.
Seeing and hearing the response, the No. 22 pilot took to X to provide some clarification.
“If anyone listened to what I said yesterday, I never picked a side,” Logano wrote. “I was pointing out the tough decision that NASCAR is in. Since words have been twisted yet again….here’s what I think… What Larson did for Motorsports was amazing, and he should get the waiver.”
Logano is clear on what he thinks about Larson receiving a playoff waiver. Will NASCAR agree?