In any competitive sport, including NASCAR, the drivers also compete with their teammates to prove themselves as the best. However, it’s important to remember that being a teammate also means working together toward a common goal.
Advertisement
While understandably there is a competitive element to the relationship, it’s crucial for drivers to collaborate and support each other to achieve success as a team. Speaking on the same with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Team Penske driver Joey Logano mentioned how it was important to maintain the tricky balance between looking at your personal goals and also making sure that you work with your teammates without conflict.
Joey Logano shares the challenges of competing against your teammates
Logano stated, “Honestly, driver and teammate relationships could be one of the hardest things to do. Because you have to work together to be successful.”
He added, “And then you have to race each other because you still want to win. And then there’s just feelings that get hurt there. Like, are you on my side or are you not?”
🗣️ “Driver and teammate relationships could be one of the hardest things to do.” #NASCAR@joeylogano speaks on the challenges involved with racing against but working with your own teammates in motorsports.
💭 “Are you on my side or are you not?” @Team_Penske pic.twitter.com/BctlS9Sq4C
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) September 14, 2023
Furthermore, he discussed the challenge of working with a teammate in NASCAR, noting that it can be difficult to determine if they are truly on your side or just focused on beating you.
As the other drivers want to beat you, teammates need to have a different dynamic since they share the same car and often end up racing alongside each other.
Logano talks about finding common ground between teammates
Speaking further into the interview, the defending Cup Series champion added, “So you got to find ways to come to a common ground and talk it out and it’s gonna happen. You’re just trying to see each other’s perspective, just like in any other relationship. It should try to come to the bottom of the situation.”
He concluded his argument by stating that he understands how everyone wants to be the “top dog” in their respective teams and that was normal in the field of motorsports.
At the end of the day, that is exactly the role Logano plays in his team at the moment, especially since he won his second career Cup Series championship last year with Team Penske.
