NASCAR: Joey Logano Talks Being in 'Great Spot' to Win Cup Series Title (Exclusive)

By Brian Jones

Joey Logano feels like this is his year. After being eliminated in the round of eight of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in 2021, the 32-year-old NASCAR star clinched a spot in the championship race last month after winning the South Point 400 in Las Vegas. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Logano talked about how confident he is in winning his second Cup Series Championship. 

"I feel good about it," Logano exclusively told PopCulture. "When I think of the position we are in as a race team, who we're competing against, I feel like we're in a great spot to be able to go out there and win this thing this year. And we're focused in. We've had a couple weeks to really focus in on Phoenix, whereas other teams, they don't have much time to really focus in. These guys travel from Charlotte all the way out to the West Coast. That's a long haul. So they got to hit the road soon to get out there by Friday."

Logano won his first title in 2018. He made his return to the Championship 4 in 2020 but came in third place behind Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott. This year, Logano is going up against Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain in the championship race, and of the four drivers, Logano has the most experience as he will be competing in his fifth championship race. 

But does this season feel like the 2018 season for Logano? "The Next Gen car definitely changes up a lot of things," he said. "And it's been a very interesting year, to say the least, when you think of how the Next Gen car has been and how many things have happened between the beginning of the season until now. It feels like a marathon of a season, just as much as we've had to learn with this car and the things that have happened throughout the year. 

"And in some ways, it feels like 2018, because we came out of the gates really strong like we did in 2018. We won the Clash this year. We had a really good start there and then we went through a bit of a lull. And then I'd say really the last 10 weeks or so, the '22 team's really picked it up a lot from the speed department and really been able to put some good races together, and that's how we found ourselves in the Championship 4 again."

Logano's journey has been featured in the USA docuseries Race for the Championship, and the season finale will air on Thursday night. Logano is into the show because he gets to see what his fellow drivers are like when they are not battling each other on the track. 

"Even if I wasn't a NASCAR fan, which obviously I am a NASCAR fan, but if I wasn't, I would look at this as something interesting to see how people live their life, how they prepare to race for a championship," Logano explained. "I think that's interesting watching that in other sports of how other athletes do it and what they do and how they balance their life with work and how they prepare for high-pressure moments. Those things to me are interesting. I like watching that and I like watching how it all comes together. And I enjoy watching Race for the Championship because I like seeing how my competitors do it and how they live their life. Because as similar as all our lives are, we do it all in a different way is what I've realized. So it's been fun to watch that."

0comments
Start the Conversation

of