NASCAR AMERICA: Joey Logano on his costly pit stop last fall at Homestead (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

Joey Logano was still in good shape – somehow.

When a debris caution came out with 20 laps left in last November’s Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Logano was running sixth. This was despite losing track position on two earlier pit stops; at Lap 195, he needed extra repairs after he had brushed the wall, and with 45 laps left, a dropped lug nut caused him to fall out of the Top 10.

Yet here he was, still with an opportunity to defeat Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman for the Cup.

Strategies differed among the Championship 4 in the most critical pit stops of the season. Hamlin stayed out, while Newman (two tires), Harvick (four tires), and Logano (four tires) went in.

But Logano’s drive for a title ended in the pits. His No. 22 Team Penske Ford fell off the jack, knocking him out of contention. He finished 16th, while Harvick won the race and the championship.

The Homestead disaster is part of Logano’s one-on-one interview with NASCAR on NBC’s Marty Snider, which you’ll see in today’s episode of NASCAR AMERICA at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra.

But for now, go to the top to watch a teaser clip of the interview, in which Logano discusses how he dealt with what occurred in South Florida.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”