"I'm not anymore”: Joey Logano claims he was the ‘most aggressive driver’ on the race track 8 years ago

NASCAR's Next Gen Cup car has introduced a new style of racing in the sport, popularized by none other than reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano when he made his entry onto the scene.

The Team Penske driver has been labeled one of the most aggressive drivers in the sport to date, with a no-holds-barred approach to racing.

While the need to be aggressive in the days prior to the seventh generation Cup car was mere choices drivers had to make, the current day level of competition has moved far ahead.

With the new car bringing in parity amongst drivers who are potential leaders to those who run towards the rear of the field, Joey Logano feels it has instilled a new frame of mind with which drivers race in 2023.

Smoking Joe was Smoking Fast on that last restart.

@joeylogano | @Team_Penske pic.twitter.com/fbjWagEhkn

Elaborating on the same topic in a recent episode of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the #22 Ford Mustang driver spoke about the cut-throat nature of competition in the 2023 Cup Series field. He accepted his aggressive nature of the past as well as talked about how every driver today is the same way, and said:

"I was the most aggressive driver on the racetrack 8 years ago. I'm not anymore. I used to be the guy who was making three-wide moves and not letting anybody go and racing really hard, just cut-throat. The whole field's that way, every single one of them. There is not one driver out there that is giving up spot like they used to."

🗣️ "I was the most aggressive driver on the race track 8 years ago. I'm not anymore. No way." #NASCAR

@Team_Penske's @joeylogano says "everybody is cutthroat at this point" in Cup in part due to passing difficulty.

💭 "It's not what it used to be."

🎧→ siriusxm.us/JoeyLogano pic.twitter.com/KKOEPLtW5O

Joey Logano's analysis of the competition levels in NASCAR today does resonate with other drivers as well as analysts and fans of the sport. The Next-Gen car in its first year of racing introduced 19 different drivers to victory lane, a stat that sums up the level of competition in the highest echelon of stock car racing pretty well.

Joey Logano on the old 'unwritten rule' in NASCAR Cup Series racing

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion also touched upon how the time before the introduction of the Next Gen car used to be in terms of on-track racing. Drivers were found not battling to the absolute maximum for every position as overtaking opportunities were aplenty.

Joey Logano spoke about that 'unwritten rule' and how it has changed in today's scenario, saying:

"Tony Stewart used to be the king of this. If you were faster than he was, he'd just roll over and let you go. Now he expected the same when you got back to him and that was the unwritten rule. Not anymore, everybody is cut-throat at this point."

Watch Joey Logano and other Cup Series drivers duke it out at Michigan International Speedway this Sunday, August 6. The FireKeepers Casino 400 goes live on August 6, 2023, at 2:30 pm ET.