Joey Logano doesn’t seem to be spending a lot of time dwelling on the past. That includes apparently setting aside any feud with fellow Sprint Cup driver Matt Kenseth.
Last year the pair grabbed headlines after a series of incidents culminated with a crash at Martinsville Speedway during the Chase for the Sprint Cup. That crash essentially eliminated Logano from title contention.
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Logano was asked where he now stands with Kenseth during Tuesday’s NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway.
“Well, we didn’t throw any punches,” he said. “No, we are fine. I would say we are at a neutral spot. To be honest with you, what we talked about at Homestead last year I felt like I got everything off my chest and hopefully he did. I don’t know if he did or not but I feel like I have a clear conscience and I am moving forward.”
That wasn’t necessarily the case last fall. On Oct. 18 at Kansas Speedway, Logano and Kenseth wrecked in a battle for the lead with five laps remaining. That wreck cost Kenseth the win — and pretty much ended his shot at the Sprint Cup title.
Two weeks later, the two made contact again. This time, NASCAR suspended Kenseth two races after the crash that proved costly for Logano in the championship battle. NASCAR then met with both drivers prior to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Earlier this year, Kenseth addressed the crashes during NASCAR’s annual media tour.
“You always hope it never comes to that and you can work things out and think the best of people and move on, but sometimes you also get to a point, especially in this day and age in this (Chase) format, you can’t get run over and taken out of the race because everybody is watching that and then will be like, ‘OK, you can run him over and he’s not going to do anything,’” Kenseth said.
“You hate to be in that spot, you hate to ever do anything like that. I wish none of it had ever happened, to be honest. I wish with 10 to go at Kansas he would have figured out a way to pass me without running into me, just like Jimmie (Johnson) did to Brad (Keselowski) the next week at Texas and just like I did to him earlier in the race. … I wish we would have never been in that spot.”
Logano said Tuesday it’s time to move on.
“It’s past us. We have to look forward,” he told FS1’s NASCAR Hub. “Our goal is to go out there and win the championship, it isn’t to go out there and crash people or do stupid things. It’s to go out there and win the race. That’s what we want to do and that’s what Roger Penske pays me to do. That’s what we have to do, is win. Our goal this year is to win the championship. Whatever happened last year happened last year.”