Joey Logano is off to historically bad start for a defending NASCAR champion

The theme of Joey Logano's 2025 season so far? Plenty of speed, but nothing to show for it.

Through the first four races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, Logano has led 207 laps. However, he's failed to notch a single top-10 finish — the first time a defending NASCAR Cup Series champion has ever failed to score a top-10 in the first four races of the ensuing season. 

At Daytona, Logano led 43 laps before a mechanical issue put him in the hornet's nest. A crash in the closing laps of the 'Great American Race' relegated Logano to a 35th-place finish. 

At Atlanta, Logano led 83 more laps en route to a 12th-place finish. At Phoenix on Sunday, he led 81 laps but finished 13th after differing strategies put him behind the eight ball. 

COTA on March 2 is the only race so far in 2025 that the No. 22 team failed to show up for. Logano started 23rd and finished 24th at the Texas road course. 

The good news? Unlike 2024, Logano has come out of the gates with some speed underneath him. The bad news? He hasn't been able to find any results, which is the opposite of his 2024 championship season in which the No. 22 team lagged behind the pack on a weekly basis. 

At some point, Logano is going to have to finish races if he wants to have a chance to defend his title and take home a fourth NASCAR Cup Series championship.