Ferrari F1 duo discuss the roles of spotters in NASCAR with Joey Logano - “It's crazy how much they talk to them”
Joey Logano laid out the contrast between F1 and NASCAR with Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in a recent YouTube video uploaded by their partner Shell.
Both F1 and NASCAR, although very different in racing, have a common base. One of these includes a third person who informs and instructs the drivers about the race. This person is called a spotter (NASCAR) or a race engineer (Formula 1).
Speaking about the same in a YouTube video, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were rather shocked. The latter mentioned the amount of communication the spotter and the driver share during a race, saying:
"No but, it's crazy how much they talk to them! You've heard the radio, it's constant communication." (2:44)
A spotter's job in NASCAR also includes keeping the driver informed about other drivers on their outside and inside lines because the visibility inside the car can be quite less compared to an F1 cockpit. This keeps them in constant communication with the driver as Carlos Sainz mentioned.
Meanwhile in F1, although race engineers also keep their drivers informed about the position of other drivers on the track, the communication is not as frequent.
Joey Logano hopeful for 2024 NASCAR season with new car
Coming into the Cup Series in 2023 as the champion of the earlier season, Joey Logano went through a tough phase, winning only one race (Ambetter Health 400).
Although he finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500, Logano didn't taste victory for most of the season. By the end, he had a total of 2258 points and finished the championship in 12th place.
Talking about the reason for this, he mentioned that the execution of the team was good but the result was unexpected. He said (via Autoweek):
"Still, there were a lot of things we did pretty well. Our execution was great. That’s the strength of this team, the way we execute at races. But we lacked a little in the speed department and we never could find it."
"There were a lot of lessons learned and a lot of tough moments. The season wasn’t good, but it was okay."
Heading into 2024, however, Joey Logano expressed optimism that the Ford he will drive has much better aerodynamics which would help him finish better.
"The new Mustang looks like it’ll be better," Autoweek quoted him as saying.
"We think the aero will be better on this new car. A lot of things look good on paper. There’ll be a different learning curve, but we think we’ll be in good shape."
Joey Logano finished in fourth place at the pre-season Busch Light Clash held earlier this month.