Joey Logano winning at Texas Motor Speedway may have surprised some NASCAR fans. This wasn't the case for the three-time Cup Series champion, who called his shot before the race weekend.
"I told my wife last week before we left, I said, 'Watch, we'll go win this one,'" Logano said during his post-race press conference.
"It's just how we do stuff. Any time you kick us down, I feel like we come back ten times harder, whatever that is in us."
Logano is a proven winner at NASCAR's top level, but the No. 22 team certainly had to make a comeback from some unexpected adversity last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
Logano initially crossed the finish line fifth as teammate Austin Cindric won the superspeedway race. However, the stat sheet shows that he left the Alabama track in 39th place.
The reason is that NASCAR disqualified the No. 22 Ford Mustang after it failed post-race inspection. The reason was a missing nut on a spoiler brace.
Something as simple as a missing nut could allow the spoiler to deflect air differently than other cars in the field and potentially provide a competitive advantage.
Logano has been known to take adversity and use it for motivation throughout his career. He did so once again on Sunday at Texas. Although he had to steadily work his way through the field after only qualifying 27th.
The disqualification was only a part of the process. The "outside noise" also became a driving factor as he set out to secure his first win of the season.
"I think any time somebody says something about you, you can use it as motivation, whether it's good or bad," Logano said. "When you have some negative comments and things like that, you have a chip on your shoulder. 'Well, I'll prove you wrong.' You want that story. It's cool, right?
"I mean, I don't feel like I put more effort in one week over the others, but I think subconsciously, there's something that happens. Something happens in the playoffs. There's something that happens when someone says something to you, right? I think everyone in here can probably relate to that at some point."
Now that Logano has called his shot and followed it up with a win, does this change his mindset? The simple answer is no. He is not someone known for "taking it easy," regardless of how many wins are on his resume, so he won't have any reason to do so now that he has scored his 37th trip to victory lane.
The number of playoff points also plays a factor. Logano has one race win and two stage wins, which gives him seven playoff points. This puts him behind such drivers as Christopher Bell (16), Denny Hamlin (12), Kyle Larson (16), and William Byron (nine).