“It's so frustrating”- When Penske's ace Joey Logano reflected on how the 'underdog' wins the biggest race of the year
Joey Logano once downplayed the significance of the esteemed Daytona 500 race and how 'The Great American Race' has become a 'wreck-fest' over time. The Team Penske star, Logano, lifted the Harley J. Earl trophy for the first time in 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
NASCAR hosts the 500-mile-long Daytona 500 race as its inaugural points-paying race of the year in the month of February. It was first held in 1959 and has been the season-opener in the Cup Series since 1982. The Daytona 500 has the biggest purse of any NASCAR race and sets the tone for the remaining season. However, the Cup Series champion Logano believed this prestigious race has lost its charm.
In a 2023 conversation with Graham Bensinger, Logano discussed what factors have affected the iconic race and the change in perspective while competing in the season-opener, despite calling it a 'special one'. The Connecticut native invited Bensinger to a tour of his extensive trophy collection.
"The Daytona 500, like, it's one of our big races of the year but it's become such a wreck-fest at the end because everyone knows what's on the line and everyone gets super aggressive and there's always a wreck." [1:43]
Logano then shared his frustration with how the intense battle for the checkered flag washes away the frontrunners. Moreover, at times, an unexpected driver takes home the coveted trophy.
"Then it's the guy that's running like seventh wins a race. You know, it's like, it's so frustrating that it ends up that way to whereas a lot of times it's the underdog that wins the Daytona 500, our biggest race of the year. So, that's always, kind of, I don't know, it's always kind of taking something away from the 500 for me, personally, because of that," Joey Logano added.
Logano then concluded the tour by showcasing his most prized possession, his two NASCAR Cup Series championship trophies.
Coming back to the present, the #22 Ford driver Joey Logano has now lifted another Cup Series title, bringing his total to three.
"Everything went right at the end of the year"- Joey Logano reflected on his 2024 Cup Series season
Joey Logano secured his third championship title at Phoenix Raceway. Although many would agree that the 34-year-old wasn't in the top contention to lift the trophy in the first half, he bounced back towards the end of the 2024 NASCAR season.
Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Logano looked back on how he made the most of every opportunity that was presented to him. He said:
"We got the speed back, getting closer every week, getting where we needed to be, playoffs started to roll around, things started to get good. But what our team I feel like did the best this year was we took advantage of every opportunity that came our way." [0:15]
"It seemed like just everything went right at the end of the year and it is so crazy to me because everything went wrong in the first half. And the last four races, we couldn't do anything wrong ... like you can't draw that up any better, just everything went perfect," Joey Logano added.
Team Penske won its third NASCAR Cup Series championship in a row and five in total. Logano's teammate, Ryan Blaney, who won the 2023 Cup title, finished in the runner-up spot in the final drivers' standings.