MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Joey Logano finally scored his first top-10 finish of the season Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, but he was far from happy. He was frustrated after issues on the track with Ross Chastain.
"He just races like a jackass every week and I keep paying the price," Logano said on pit road after the race. "I'm sick of paying the price."
The comments followed a Cup Series race in which emotions boiled over in the close confines of the historic short track. Logano, in particular, called Chastain a "jackass" over the radio after the Trackhouse Racing driver made an aggressive block with 91 laps in the race.
Logano ran into the rear of Chastain's No. 1 as the two battled for the fifth position. He asked his team if the No. 22 had nose damage, and then he made critical comments about his fellow Cup Series driver.
More issues surfaced eight laps later. Chastain blocked Chase Briscoe, which led to Briscoe colliding with Logano. This spun Logano's No. 22 Ford out of sixth place.
"Ross just sticking it in a tight spot," Logano said of the incident. "He did it to me on the restart before. I can't even blame Briscoe for shipping him. I think he got himself in a bind trying to ship him."
This incident dropped Logano to 25th, with just over 80 laps remaining in the race. It appeared that the elusive top-10 finish was out of reach, but he steadily worked his way through the field for a season-best eighth-place finish.
Logano has led 260 laps this season and won two stages, yet he hasn't delivered the finishes his team expects due to unexpected incidents. He finally snapped that streak on Sunday after recovering from the spin. He just wasn't happy after what he called his second run-in with Chastain in the last three weeks.
These comments after the race seemingly marked a change in the understanding between the two drivers.
Back in 2023, Chastain spoke with multiple media members after a race at the now-demolished Auto Club Speedway and explained how he and Logano balance their aggressive driving styles, something that surfaced when he made an aggressive block that pushed the No. 22 toward the infield grass.
As Chastain said, a long conversation after a race at Kansas led to an understanding between the two drivers. They could race aggressively while still showing some respect.
"I left him a lane," Logano said on pit road after the 2023 race. "That's what's so cool about Joey and I. You know, we can race that aggressively and give it to each other and receive it.
"I'm not saying he's totally happy with me today, but he'll feed it right back to me, and I'll fight him back. That's why it seems to work with him and I."