Joey Logano’s third NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2024 might be tangled in controversy, but his second in 2022 wasn’t. The Team Penske driver won three races throughout the season before flying to Phoenix and grabbing the title with a fourth victory two years ago. What made this achievement feel more special was that he fulfilled an emotional promise he’d made to his son Hudson.
Advertisement
Hudson Joseph Logano is the first child of the #22 Ford Mustang driver with his wife Brittany Baca. Just four years old at the time, he’d given his father a task to live up to.
Logano revealed, “[Hudson and I] had so many conversations over the last couple weeks before bedtime. First was, ‘Daddy is going to get a pole, and he’s going to meet me out here, and we’re going to win the race,’ and I couldn’t be a liar to my son.”
“Good luck Dad” – Hudson #Daytona500 pic.twitter.com/WaZsU7bL9i
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) February 21, 2022
It was precisely what happened. Logano won the pole and led 187 laps in Phoenix to secure his second championship. The scenes in the aftermath were pure joy. The driver noted to the press that he’d always wanted to take his son for a ride in his car after winning a race. The inspiration for that desire came from when Kevin Harvick did the same with his son Keelan after winning a race in 2019.
And so, Hudson climbed inside the bright yellow-colored #22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang and turned laps around the track with the newly crowned champion. A core father-son memory right there.
Logano detailed later, “Ever since [Kevin] Harvick gave his son a ride in the car, I always wanted to do that with Hudson. [Hudson is] such a little car guy. It was a special moment to ride together.”
How Logano dominated the 2022 Cup Series season
2022 was a special year for Logano. He kicked it off by winning the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum in the newly introduced Next Gen car. His daughter Emilia Love Logano was born that same week. The ideal opening resulted in him gaining a lot of optimism and confidence to last him throughout the year.
He later won in Darlington, Gateway, and Las Vegas to reach Phoenix. The final moments of the finale were intense, to say the least. He started third during the last restart of the race that came on Lap 280. He took the lead three laps later and held it to the end while fending off title contender Ross Chastain.
Ultimately, he crossed the finish line 0.301 seconds ahead of his teammate Ryan Blaney to collect the honors in the desert. He became the first active Ford driver to have two championships since David Pearson in 1968-1969. 2022 was a season filled with enough bedtime stories for all his children.
