In a season of parity riddled with unpredictability, it makes sense that the NASCAR Cup Series champion is a seasoned veteran.
It’s just a little bizarre that the champion is Joey Logano.
When nobody expected it, Logano became the old man in the room – among the Championship 4 drivers and on Team Penske. At 32, Logano defeated Ross Chastain (29), Christopher Bell (27), and Chase Elliott (26) in dominant, almost boring fashion. He led 187 of 312 laps en route to winning the season finale and championship on November 6 at Phoenix Raceway.
Fifteen years after entering the Cup Series at the age of 18 and 10 years after joining Team Penske, Logano capped the first season of the next-gen era by becoming the second (Kyle Busch) active Cup Series driver with several titles.
“My experience is valuable because I’ve been here a long time and I know how things work and I know how the sport works and all those things,” said Logano. “That’s all well and good. But with the racing car itself, I had to relearn a lot.”
He had to do it in Team Penske’s first full season since 2010 without Brad Keselowski under the organization’s umbrella. After Keselowski switched to RFK Racing, Logano inherited his leadership role.
Even team owner Roger Penske said it’s “hard to believe” that a decade has passed since Logano joined his organization.
Joey and Hudson Logano. (Photo by HHP/Tim Parks)
“There was a lot of discussion at the time about whether that was the right step?” said Penke. “I have to thank Brad for talking to me about Joey and really giving me the opportunity to meet him. He came, you saw his success. The number of races he’s won for us has been incredible.
“I told him earlier in the year when Brad left and he’s the senior to really put his arms around the whole team.”
What kind of leader did Logano want to be at the top of the class in his freshman year?
Nobody in the limelight.
“I’m not the kind of leader who wants to stand on a pedestal above everyone and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been here the longest, listen to me,'” Logano said. “It’s not how I do it, it’s not how (Crew Chief) Paul (Wolfe) does it, it’s not what I think is best. I feel like it’s often best to really get everyone’s opinions and collect them and form your own opinion. and if it’s something you feel really strong about, then you fight for it.
“And then as a team I want this: I want my teammates as drivers to have their say and put something together. When we feel something is right, we form a voice together.”
That’s the approach the team took in the weeks leading up to the Championship 4 race.
Thanks to Logano’s victory in the opening round of eight race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the No. 22 team had a longer runway for their preparation.
“When we won in Vegas, on Monday we sat down and started creating a meeting agenda, a set of meeting agendas that we go through together as a team and go through the film, go through pit stops, pit road times being able to review and roll, all these little sub-categories that happened and make sure all the details are in the right place,” Logano said.
“We knew that details would make the difference between victory and defeat. We’ve had the benefit of really working together and doing that in those two and a half weeks,” he added. “It’s agony. I’m telling you right now, the last two and a half weeks have been agony. That’s all we’ve been thinking about.”
That lasted until 7 a.m. on the morning of the race, when he and his team met with Wolfe in the Crew Chief’s RV as they discussed their battle plan.
“We made sure that no stone was left unturned in preparation for this race,” said Logano. “You can’t fake confidence. You might be able to show it a little bit, but deep down you have to believe that you’re going to be ready for this fight that’s ahead of you. I have never felt more ready and Paul deserves a lot of credit for taking the time and effort and forcing us to do it together as a team.”
After the win in Las Vegas, Wolfe didn’t want to “throw away” subsequent races at Homestead-Miami and Martinsville Speedways, but he “focused on Phoenix right after that win next Monday and made sure we didn’t miss anything.”
Dedication to the mission led to Wolfe winning his second Cup Series championship as crew chief. The first came in 2012 when he and Keselowski gave Team Penske their first Cup Series crown. With a different driver and a “completely different car” to find out, “I think racing is completely different,” said 45-year-old Wolfe.
“It’s almost like that happened my sophomore year in cup racing,” Wolfe said. “It’s almost as if I didn’t know any better, didn’t understand how difficult it really is to fight for the championship in this series with the best teams and drivers. I’ve said this before, I’m not going to say I’m the smartest guy in the garage, but I like having a lot of good people around me and making me look good and we definitely have that on this team and within our company.”
Joey Logano lifts the championship trophy. (Photo by Ivan Velduizen)
Within 48 hours of winning the championship, Logano’s winning streak was in full swing.
In a bookend of sorts, Logano visited the LA Memorial Coliseum, where he unofficially opened the season by winning the first Busch Light Clash held there. When there are driver presentations during the second edition of the race on February 6th, he will be greeted as the defending Cup Series champion with either cheers, boos or a mixture of both.
With a second championship, the clout increases. What does the Connecticut native plan to do with it?
He has “a few thoughts in mind”.
“Up to this point, I’m thinking about it,” Logano said. “You think about being a champion of the sport, you represent the sport. It’s a huge task. I don’t take it lightly and I want to make the best of it because I care for all of us. It’s all of our livelihoods, and it’s our job to do better than the last generation.
“For me, I think about the guys who raced before us and what they made our sport into. It wasn’t just driving in circles all day and ending up in the same place. It’s pretty pointless when you think about it.”
With this in mind, Logano is looking forward to his role as the defending champion when it comes to the next round of voting for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Logano intends to throw his weight around more than he did after his first title in 2018.
“I’m more looking forward to it this time because I know what’s going on there and how it works,” said Logano. “I have a few people in mind who I think deserve to be there and I plan to give my opinion on that when I get there. Think again of such things that I can and should use. I’ve been here long enough. I’ve seen a lot of great things and we’ve grown together as a group.
“We should celebrate that for one thing, but we should always try to get better.”
Comments are closed.