By Jared Turner

Entering the regular season finale at Richmond, Joey Logano had only one pathway to the playoffs. That pathway? Winning. But for the first time since joining Team Penske in 2013, Logano won’t arrive at the final 10 races with a chance to compete for the championship. The only consolation? He went down swinging, finishing second at Richmond to race winner Kyle Larson. “We came into the weekend saying second would be a failure, and we finished second,” Logano said moments after the race at Richmond concluded. “So one spot short. But, overall, I’m proud of this team. We came in here with the pressure on us, and we executed the best we could.” Despite being out of the playoffs, Logano is determined to finish 2017 strong. “We’ll make it exciting for everyone that’s in the playoffs when there is a car running for the win that’s out of it,” he said.