Joey Logano has not made many friends in the Sprint Cup Series over the past two weeks, and the 22-year-old doesn’t seem to care. Last weekend, Logano was spun out by Denny Hamlin near the finish of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Logano went after Hamlin after the race (video here) and some mild shoving took place.
Coincidentally, the two drivers found themselves fighting for position on the last lap at the Auto Club 400 in Fontana on Sunday. This time, Logano returned the favor by drifting toward the top of the track and bumping Hamlin, causing him to lose control and crash head-on into the wall. Hamlin had to spend the night in the hospital because of back pain, but Logano said “that’s what he gets” after the race when referencing what happened a week ago.
However, Hamlin isn’t the only enemy Logano has made. During a restart following a caution with a few laps to go on Sunday, he also angered Tony Stewart by ducking below the white line to block Stewart’s No. 14 car from passing. Stewart confronted Logano on pit road after the game and a few swings were thrown.
“What the hell do you think I was mad about?” Stewart said after the fight. “The dumb little (expletive) runs us clear down to the infield. He wants to (expletive) about everyone else and he’s the one that drives like a little (expletive). I’m gonna bust his ass.”
Logano admitted that he blocked Stewart on purpose, which probably isn’t going to help Tony cool down at all.
“I had to throw the block there,” Logano explained. “That was a race for the lead. I felt like if (Stewart) got underneath me that was going to be the end of my opportunity to win the race. I was just trying to protect the spot I had.”
The feud certainly isn’t over, and I’m sure NASCAR is loving every second of it. Logano is the type of cocky, young personality that fans will always pay attention to — whether they love him or hate him. Stewart’s the old overweight dude who doesn’t know his glory days of throwing punches are probably behind him. It takes both types to make the NASCAR world go ’round.
