Joey Logano 2026 Report Card: A B Built in the Second Half
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing 2026 Season Report Cards, where every full-time Cup Series driver gets a grade computed from all 36 races, not opinion. Next up: the number 22, and a season that looked like two different drivers.
The Short Version
Joey Logano's 2026 season had three wins, 832 laps led and a Bristol night race trophy. It also had a first half so rough that he sat 17th in points, outside the Chase, as late as mid-July. His average finish over the first 18 races was 20.8. Over the last 18 it was 11.1. He finished 7th in the standings, and his computed season grade is a B, 15th of 35. The second half looked like a title contender. The first half dragged the grade down.
Why the Joey Logano 2026 Grade Is a B
Every HHR report card grade comes from the same math. After every race, each driver gets a score out of 100 based on where they finished in the field, how many spots they gained or lost from the start, how many laps they led, and a penalty for not finishing. The season grade is the average of all 36 race scores, curved against the 35 drivers who ran the full year.
Logano's season score ranked 15th of 35, which lands at B. Because every race counts the same, the seven finishes of 30th or worse he piled up in the first 18 races weigh just as much as his three wins. Only three of them were crashes. He was still running at the finish at Darlington (33rd), Kansas (30th), Watkins Glen (38th) and Pocono (34th).
There is also a gap between how he ran and where he finished. His average running position was 14.2, but he lost 2.9 spots per race from where he started, 31st of 35. He started on the pole three times and led from the front often. He just did not always hold it.
Joey Logano by the Numbers
Here is where Logano ranked among the 35 full-time drivers in 14 stats. The bar and the circle show his rank (1 is best). The number on the right is the actual stat.
The speed side of the card is strong. Logano was 4th in wins (3), 5th in laps led (832), 5th in laps led per start (23.1), 5th in lead-lap finishes (26), 8th in fastest laps (354) and 9th in average driver rating (86.4). Averaged across all 14 stats, he ranked 9th of 35.
The consistency side is where it falls apart. He was 29th in finish spread and 31st in positions gained. His average finish of 15.9 ranked 13th, and he had only 7 top 5s, 10th in the field. When the No. 22 was good, it won. When it was off, it was way off.
A First Half Stuck in Quicksand
The year started fine with a 3rd in the Daytona 500. At Phoenix in March, Logano won the pole and led 73 laps, then wrecked after contact with AJ Allmendinger and finished 31st. From there it got worse. Between March and June he crashed out at Talladega and Texas and finished 30th or worse while still running at Darlington, Kansas, Watkins Glen and Pocono.
After a 24th at Sonoma, his average finish through 18 races was 20.8. After his first win in July, Logano told NBC Sports the season had felt "more like quicksand," and that a lack of speed made the team start to question things.
North Wilkesboro Flipped the Season
Logano went to North Wilkesboro on July 19 sitting 17th in points. He led 323 of 450 laps, a career high, and won the first Cup points race at the track in 30 years. NBC Sports reported it ended a 45-start winless streak. From that point on, he was a different driver:
- Richmond, Aug. 15: held off Chase Briscoe by 0.392 seconds for his second win of the year and the 39th of his Cup career.
- World Wide Technology Raceway, Sept. 13: won the pole and led a race-high 96 laps, then lost the lead to Kyle Larson late and finished 3rd.
- Bristol, Sept. 19: started 2nd, led 93 laps and slipped past a late battle to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, career win number 40.
He added a 6th at Phoenix in October after leading 84 laps. Then Talladega hit. On lap 183 of the YellaWood 500, the No. 22 got loose in the high lane, made contact with Briscoe and went airborne and upside down. Logano climbed out on his own, but he finished 34th and left the race 100 points behind Larson. An 18th at Martinsville and a 17th at Homestead followed. His Chase average finish was 12.7.
What 2027 Looks Like
No change has been announced for the number 22. NASCAR.com and FOX Sports report Logano is under contract with Team Penske through at least 2027, and Paul Wolfe was his crew chief for all 36 races in 2026. Wolfe said after North Wilkesboro that short tracks are the team's strength and 1.5-mile ovals are what it needs to fix. Every move for next year is on our 2027 silly season tracker.
The 2027 Daytona 500 is Feb. 21. Start times and channels for every race are on our race TV guide, and every other driver's grade is on the 2026 report cards page.
The Bottom Line
From North Wilkesboro on, Logano won three times and averaged an 11.1 finish. Before that, he ran like a driver fighting to make the Chase. The B is the average of both. If the No. 22 finds speed on the intermediate tracks, a fourth title is not out of reach in 2027.
Joey Logano Gear
- Joey Logano 2026 North Wilkesboro Win T-Shirt
- Joey Logano 2026 Richmond Win T-Shirt
- Joey Logano 2026 Bristol Night Race Win T-Shirt
- Joey Logano No. 22 Pit Uniform Shirt
- Joey Logano No. 22 Striped Trucker Hat
Sources: NASCAR official race results and loop data for all 36 2026 points races; North Wilkesboro details via NBC Sports and RACER; Richmond via Jayski and AP; WWT Raceway and Bristol via RACER and NASCAR.com; Phoenix and Talladega crashes via NASCAR.com and AP; 2027 status via NASCAR.com and FOX Sports.
