Logano facing elimination again at Charlotte Roval

Joey Logano will be fighting to keep his NASCAR Cup Series title defense alive on Sunday as he enters the elimination race at the Charlotte Roval sitting on the final transfer spot.

Logano and the No. 22 team from Team Penske have a slim 13-point margin on Ross Chastain, but he is also within striking distance of Chase Briscoe, who sits above him on the playoff grid, to move ahead on points. A winner from any of the four drivers below the cutline, of course, will eliminate whomever is sitting on it.

It puts multiple variables in play on Sunday afternoon. Logano wants to be made aware of all of them as the race plays out.

“Absolutely,” Logano said. “I want to know it all. I want everything, all the information I can possibly get said to me. I think everybody knows you make better decisions when you have all the data, and we’re asked to make decisions in the heat of the battle, live. There’s no time to talk it through in a boardroom.

“We’ve got to make the decision at that moment, so the more prepared we can be, the better, but also understanding what the situation is, what’s going on around me, and what I have to do inside the race car.”

Logano won his third Cup Series championship last year, which came after being given new life in the hours after the checkered flag at the Charlotte Roval. Initially, Logano had been eliminated by four points, but he advanced when Alex Bowman’s team was disqualified for failing to make the post-race weight. A week later, Logano won his way into the Championship 4 by winning at Las Vegas.

This year, it's a similar situation, with Logano again fighting around the bubble spot. Logano has never been eliminated in the Round of 12. In each of his previous postseason appearances, Logano has been eliminated in the first round or in the Round of 8 (unless he made the Championship 4).

Logano has finished 10th or better in six of his seven starts at the Charlotte Roval.