Joey Logano reveals why NASCAR drivers gamble on faulty cooling suits

Joey Logano just put his finger on the reason drivers keep using a cooling system that often fails mid-race

On 15 Jun 2025 at Pocono Raceway, Joey Logano’s cooling shirt died, his helmet blower quit, and his drink hose was four inches too short. He still finished 20th. **That’s the gamble drivers take every week.** Logano laid it bare on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour: when the chilled undershirt works, it’s like stepping into a pool. When it breaks, it turns the cockpit into a hot tub.

Why the cooling shirts are a necessary gamble

NASCAR cockpits hit 140°F on race day. Drivers sit in that for hours. The cool shirt pumps chilled fluid across their chest and back, buying back the reaction time heat steals. **“It’s just like an engine: it doesn’t want to run so hot, and you start losing performance,” Logano said.** Heat slows focus and slops reactions. A working cool shirt buys back those margins.

The tech is older than most fans think. Paul Goldsmith tinkered with driver cooling in the 1960s. For decades crews stuffed ice bags down fire suits at pit stops. The modern thin-tube system arrived in the 1990s. Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus pushed it further in 2018, testing it in a 100°F paint booth until the whole grid wanted in.

The Next Gen car made the gamble even riskier

When the Next Gen car debuted in 2022, it trapped more heat inside the cockpit. The cool shirt stopped being optional. **If the pump dies mid-race, the fluid stops moving.** Instead of pulling heat away, it absorbs it. Within minutes the driver wears near-boiling water against their skin. **“When it breaks, and all the fluid sits on you: it’s 140 degrees, so your body temperature just warms the stuff up,” Logano said.** He’s felt that burn firsthand.

At Pocono in 2025, Ryan Blaney’s suit failed on Lap 15. He drove the next 145 laps in over 120°F heat, finished third, then collapsed three times getting out of the car. Logano’s own nightmare came when his cool shirt quit, helmet blower died, and drink hose was too short. To take a sip at speed, he had to put his head in his lap.

Where Joey Logano’s playoff hopes now sit

Away from the cool shirt talk, Logano is parked in an uncomfortable spot. **He’s 20th in points with eight races left before NASCAR’s 2026 playoff cutoff.** The old Chase format is back: the top 16 in points after 26 races make the playoffs, period. A race win no longer punches your ticket. Logano has no wins. Two top-fives. An average finish of 20.78. He’s 10 points outside the cutline after a 24th at Sonoma.

Meanwhile, teammate Ryan Blaney sits third in points. **The gap is small, but the math is brutal.** Logano needs points, not miracles. The cooling gamble won’t fix his points deficit. It only fixes the heat.