Jeff Gluck

USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE -- Declining to pick up the phone and call Matt Kenseth last year may have cost Joey Logano a championship, he now believes.

Logano was infamously wrecked on purpose by Kenseth while leading at Martinsville Speedway in 2015, which robbed him of not only a good finish but the chance at a bye into the four-driver championship race. Kenseth was benched by NASCAR for two races.

Kenseth was still angry with Logano for an incident two weeks earlier at Kansas Speedway, where Logano made contact with Kenseth while the two raced for a win. Logano took the checkered flag; Kenseth ultimately was eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup after the next race.

At the time, Logano just let the incident lie. He was unapologetic and never reached out to Kenseth to discuss it.

On Tuesday at an event in advance of Saturday night's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Logano said with more time to reflect, he should have called.

"I thought at the time, 'What am I going to do, call him? He could be more mad at me. I could make this worse,' " Logano said. "Looking back at it though, it never hurts to call, it never hurts to communicate. Over-communicating is a good thing; at least you know where you're at."

In the time since, Logano said he has been in frequent communication with competitors -- both for good and bad reasons.

For example: When Tony Stewart gave Logano plenty of room on pit road Sunday at Dover International Speedway, Logano appreciated it. So he texted the veteran driver to let him know.

"I think that's just as important as when things go bad," Logano said. "To build those relationships up, I think that's something I was a little weak at and feel like I've gotten better at it this year."

Logano said calling Kenseth last year might not have changed anything, "but at least it's a call."

"I didn't think it was going to be anything he wanted to hear," Logano said. "The racing incident is the racing incident. We're going to have our two different sides on it. Things happen sometimes when you're racing that close for a victory.

"I got his frustration and I hoped he understood my side, which he didn't."



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