Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske, will become the 34thd driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to make 600 career starts when he takes the green flag on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. The three-time champ talked about that milestone as part of a weekly Ford media call.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – COMING ON YOUR 600TH START, YOU’RE FLYING OUT TO THE ESPYS FOR TOMORROW NIGHT’S SHOW. JUST ANOTHER TYPICAL WEEK FOR JOEY LOGANO, RIGHT? “I’ve never been to the ESPYS, so it’s probably a little different than average, but looking forward to it for sure. Iconic weekend with being able to hit that 600th start. That’s a pretty special one as well, so it’s a busy week for sure – a short one because we’ll be traveling a lot, but it’s all good.”
HOW DO YOU PROCESS THE EMOTIONS OF REACHING THIS MILESTONE WITH ALL YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED? “I guess in two different ways. At first glance, I said, ‘Well, it just starts.’ But then when you start thinking about it, to be able to be around in a sport as an athlete competing at a top level for 16-plus years, and hitting 600 starts, it’s pretty incredible to have a career that long. It’s something that I take some pride in. I’m proud of that, to be able to hit this marker. It’s a lot of starts. I remember my 300th start and I think it was Kenseth at the time, maybe it was Truex as well, that weren’t too far from 600 and I thought, ‘Geez, that’s double the amount of races as me. That’s crazy.’ But here I am, so it went by pretty quick. It’s been a heck of a ride. This sport has been awesome to me and my family and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
YOU ARE 35 YEARS OLD AND HAVE NOT MENTIONED RETIREMENT BY ANY MEANS, BUT YOU ARE AT THAT AGE WHEN DRIVERS MAYBE START THINKING ABOUT IT. HAVE YOU GIVEN ANY THOUGHT TO HOW LONG YOU WANT TO CONTINUE DOING THIS? “I always say as long as I can win. I really feel like that’s the standard for me. I love racing, but I really love winning a lot more. If I can go race other things and win, I’ll go and do that, but my dream has always been to be a NASCAR driver, be a NASCAR champion and if I can win and be a help to my team, then I want to stick around. As soon as I feel like I’m a drag on the team and I’m not bringing anything to the table anymore, whether that’s on the racetrack or off the racetrack, that’s when I need to get out of the way at that point. I want to see Roger Penske and his race team and the people that are there be successful. I care about them a lot, so I want to be a way to contribute to that. That’s what I want out of myself. If I was Roger Penske, I would expect that out of an employee, especially for as long as I’ve been there. That, to me, is gonna be the deciding factor when that is. I don’t want to stick around and be one of those guys where people say, ‘Man, he went a few years too long.’ You don’t want to be that guy. I think whenever that happens, that happens. I don’t know when that is. I would be an idiot to think you can be competing at the top level into your fifties. What athlete has ever done that? Something changes at some point, but, right now, I still feel as fresh as ever. I feel as sharp as ever. I’m driven as much as ever. I still care. I still get emotional about things, so that shows me I care a lot. With those factors still there when the end is, I don’t know yet. I don’t know.”
OVER 600 STARTS YOU WILL HAVE RUN-INS WITH DRIVERS. HOW DO YOU VIEW RIVALRIES AND WHAT DO YOU VIEW AS THE BIGGEST RIVALRY IN THIS TIME? “I honestly don’t put that much thought into it, to be honest with you. Rivalries are great for sports. There’s no doubt about that. People love them. It draws a lot of attention. It’s not a bad thing. There are two different kinds of rivalries. There’s a rivalry where everyone is wrecking each other. There’s that type, which aren’t the healthy kind, and then there are the rivalries that are just win for win and kind of going back and forth, where you get two of the best going back and forth on just wins. I think those are the best kind of rivalries. Those are the more fun ones to be a part of when you get two dogs going back and forth at each other trading wins, those are the best kind. Trading punches, those are ones that are fun for a moment, but I don’t think that’s really the best thing about our sport in general. We’re just any sport. I don’t care about seeing that too much, it’s just drama at that point. I like seeing the competition rivalries the most. I feel like it’s flowed and changed over the years so much with who that is. Every year it feels like it could be someone different who could be that hot shot guys.”
— Ford Performance —