Joey Logano admit he made “a dumb mistake” after he tried to keep Chris Buescher from taking the lead on the last lap in their qualifying race Thursday night at Daytona.
On the last-lap of the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel, Joey Logano made an aggressive block on RFK Racing Chris Buescher, making contact with the No. 17 Ford Mustang and sending his Ford Mustang into the outside wall.
Chris Buescher was declared the winner, while Burton went on to finish in third, with Logano’s damaged No. 22 Ford Mustang being relegated to ninth place finish.
Logano said: “I knew as the leader, I was a bit of a sitting duck, but at worst I was gonna finish fourth and was gonna try to let it play out,” Logano said after being cleared from the infield care center. “Didn’t think (Buescher) was going to get a run that quick. He didn’t fall back that far, and it came to me so fast, and I reacted to try to block it.
"I just made a mistake." Joey Logano talks to Jamie Little about his wreck in Duel No. 2 at Daytona, . pic.twitter.com/eQbwwjWJYS
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 18, 2022
“I should have just let it happen and race from there. Just messed up. Worst part is I put our team in a bad spot trying to … get another car (ready), and I got (Harrison Burton) in it, too. A dumb mistake. All there is to it. Not perfect.”
Wreck on the final lap of Duel No. 2 at Daytona. Chris Buescher wins. pic.twitter.com/K9R8HAbtNu
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 18, 2022
Following the incident, Logano was checked and released from the infield care center, where he was interviewed by FOX Sports’ NASCAR reporter Jamie Little.
“The thing that has been extremely interesting — and I think we’re learning every time — is that these cars are very good at having huge runs front to back in a narrow wake,” Buescher said. “But when you get side-by-side, it stalls you out aggressively.
“We had a line of four of us and a single car that we (lapped). It stalled us all out. It stalled our whole line out. As (Logano) had a little bit more gap ahead, we had a run moving up to him single file and was able to move down the hill some.
“I don’t want it to happen that way, and I definitely hate it did. You look back at it and if I was in that position, we all know our situation on cars and where we’re at, but you put those helmets on and no one is really thinking about that. We’re trying to go win races.
“If the shoe was on the other foot, I’d probably do the same thing and would be bummed about it just the same, where if you don’t try and make a move and end up fourth or fifth or whatever it would be, you’ll be bummed at the same time.”
Joey Logano is expected to go to his backup car for Sunday’s big race The Daytona 500.