MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A day after finishing second in the All-Star Race and being critical of how Christopher Bell raced him for the win, Joey Logano told NBC Sports that how Bell drove him “wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.”
Bell and Logano dueled much of the final 20 laps Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Logano blocked Bell and tried to take his lane away while Bell worked to get by. Bell made a second attempt and eventually moved Logano up the track and took the lead with 10 laps to go. Bell went on to win his first All-Star Race.
After the race, Logano expressed his displeasure with Bell’s move.
“I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” Logano told FS1. “Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that, I just couldn’t get back to him.”
Monday, before a ceremony by the mayor of Mooresville and Town Board honoring the teams of Logano and Ryan Blaney for winning the last three Cup titles, Logano admitted he had a different take on how Bell raced him in those final laps.
“When I went back and re-watched it, I was like, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” Logano told NBC Sports. “If he did that (move Logano up the track) the first time he got to me, I’d be like, ‘Dude, why would you do that?’
“But he made solid attempts to pass me. I ran him all up and down the racetrack. So I opened the door. Like at that point, I opened the door (to more aggressive racing). I had to do that to try to maintain the lead.
“But it also to me, it was like, OK, well, if you’re willing to do that, you should be able to move that person up the racetrack. Then I should have been able to get back at him.
“I set the tone that we’re going to race like assholes. It’s OK that he did that to me. But in the moment you’re just pissed, right? You’re just like, ‘He ran me up the track.’ Then when I watched it, I was like, ‘Nah, it’s probably warranted.’
“So, I shouldn’t have said that (after the race). You’re mad. It is what it is. He knocked me up and then moved me up. Would I have done the same? Probably. Especially after someone ran me all over the racetrack like I did, I probably would have done the same.
“I’m a really bad loser. I’m a sore loser. I can’t help it. It is who I am, but I think that’s also what makes us winners.”
