CONCORD, N.C. -- Joey Logano, driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, is the defending winner of Saturday night's Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Logano is also the defending race winner of next weekend's stop at Kansas Speedway.
A week later, when the series rolls into Talladega? Yep, Logano will be the defending race winner there, too.
His sweep of last year's Round of 12 in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup was remarkable. In addition to earning Logano the right to advance to the following round, the sweep also kept others from doing the same. For everyone except Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and the No. 22 team, the round suddenly became a three-race points battle.
"Last year we talked a lot about not making mistakes in the first round," Logano said earlier this week. "I feel like we were able to do that last year.
"This round coming up, (it) was obviously incredible sweeping it. We want to be able to do that again, right?"
The elimination element has only been a part of the Chase format since 2014. Winning consecutive Chase races isn't unheard of, but Logano has been the only driver to do it under the current format. Tony Stewart won five of 10 Chase races en route to the title in 2011; Jimmie Johnson won three in a row in '04, then four straight in '07.
Outside of another sweep, choice No. 2 for Logano and his team would be to win one of the first two races in the round, anything that would guarantee a spot in the Round of 8. Hopefully before the round-ending stop at wildcard Talladega.
"Winning one of these next two races before Talladega, we all know, is very important," he said. "You won't get much sleep if you don't.
"These next two races, a lot of times we talk about them as the most important races in the Chase because in this round someone always gets knocked out that has a chance and is a threat. … Someone that you think you're going to see in the final four most likely is going to get knocked out in this round. Because there have been unknowns in each race … you never know what's going to happen.
"We have to go out there and race aggressively; that's the way the 22 car races and we're not going to change that. But I think also eliminating mistakes and execution becomes key."
Logano managed three top-10 finishes in the opening round a year ago before going on his second-round tear. The results have been similar this time around, which, according to Logano, has been according to plan.
"The first round, Todd has preached to me and to the whole team, I think at least a thousand times -- base hits," he said. "And we did that.
"We had a second, an 11th and a sixth which would be in the base-hit category, which gets you through to the next round. And that's the goal. The goal is to get through rounds and get to Homestead and race for a championship.
"As the Chase goes on, base hits don't do it anymore. You've got to be hitting some … triples and home runs.
"I think we're ready for that."
Saturday's Bank of America 500 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
Logano is also the defending race winner of next weekend's stop at Kansas Speedway.
A week later, when the series rolls into Talladega? Yep, Logano will be the defending race winner there, too.
His sweep of last year's Round of 12 in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup was remarkable. In addition to earning Logano the right to advance to the following round, the sweep also kept others from doing the same. For everyone except Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and the No. 22 team, the round suddenly became a three-race points battle.
"Last year we talked a lot about not making mistakes in the first round," Logano said earlier this week. "I feel like we were able to do that last year.
"This round coming up, (it) was obviously incredible sweeping it. We want to be able to do that again, right?"
The elimination element has only been a part of the Chase format since 2014. Winning consecutive Chase races isn't unheard of, but Logano has been the only driver to do it under the current format. Tony Stewart won five of 10 Chase races en route to the title in 2011; Jimmie Johnson won three in a row in '04, then four straight in '07.
Outside of another sweep, choice No. 2 for Logano and his team would be to win one of the first two races in the round, anything that would guarantee a spot in the Round of 8. Hopefully before the round-ending stop at wildcard Talladega.
"Winning one of these next two races before Talladega, we all know, is very important," he said. "You won't get much sleep if you don't.
"These next two races, a lot of times we talk about them as the most important races in the Chase because in this round someone always gets knocked out that has a chance and is a threat. … Someone that you think you're going to see in the final four most likely is going to get knocked out in this round. Because there have been unknowns in each race … you never know what's going to happen.
"We have to go out there and race aggressively; that's the way the 22 car races and we're not going to change that. But I think also eliminating mistakes and execution becomes key."
Logano managed three top-10 finishes in the opening round a year ago before going on his second-round tear. The results have been similar this time around, which, according to Logano, has been according to plan.
"The first round, Todd has preached to me and to the whole team, I think at least a thousand times -- base hits," he said. "And we did that.
"We had a second, an 11th and a sixth which would be in the base-hit category, which gets you through to the next round. And that's the goal. The goal is to get through rounds and get to Homestead and race for a championship.
"As the Chase goes on, base hits don't do it anymore. You've got to be hitting some … triples and home runs.
"I think we're ready for that."
Saturday's Bank of America 500 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
