NASCAR Xfinity Series

Logano won't focus on Kenseth incident at Martinsville

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:18 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Last year at this time, Joey Logano came into Martinsville looking to all the world like he was going to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Logano rolled into Martinsville on a major hot streak, having won three straight races, part of a series-high six victories on the 2015 campaign.

But Logano left with his championship hopes crushed and his season destroyed after Matt Kenseth drilled him into the wall when Logano was leading at Martinsville.

The aggressive move by Kenseth was retaliation for a series of incidents with both Logano and his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski last year and in 2014.

This time around, Logano is in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Round of 8 for the third consecutive season, and Friday morning at Martinsville, he said last year is, well, so last year.

“You’re never gonna erase it from your mind,” said Logano, the only Ford driver left in the Chase. “I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m not gonna say that. But I will say that I don’t focus on it.”

Logano said he doesn’t want anything to cause him to take his eyes off the task at hand, which is to put the No. 22 Team Penske Ford in Victory Lane.

“If I focus on it, that’s a distraction of what my main goal is which is to win, not think about what happened last year,” said Logano. “If I can use it to motivate me, I’m gonna use that to help me win, but that’s gonna be it.”