Joey Logano, despite on-track brilliance, may find it difficult to win the ‘Most Popular Driver’ award anytime soon. He’s a polarizing figure to say the least, and the circumstances of his Cup Series championship win in 2024 only added to it. That said, he doesn’t care too much about the negativity that surrounds him.
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Speaking on “Donut Podcasts” recently, the Team Penske driver explained how there are two sides to him. The first is the character he has when he is inside the race car. The second is the one he has outside.
Logano believes that it’s the racer version of himself that people have a problem with. He said, “I understand that they’re booing the person that’s driving the car, not the person that’s out of the car.”
“I’m okay with that. Like, that’s fine. To be honest with you, if you don’t like what I do on the racetrack, I don’t care, right? I don’t care. Because my job on the racetrack is not to make people like me. My job is to win. That’s what I get paid to do. So, if you don’t like that, I don’t care.”
Logano is strongly of the opinion that racing cars is not a popularity contest. He understands why it is important to have fan support and get people to like him. But then, he doesn’t believe that he owes an explanation to every one of his haters to make them see things differently. That’s why he’s never ever tried to downplay his win in 2024.
“You can’t let people affect you negatively if they don’t really know who you are,” he added. “The people I actually care about are the ones… I care about their opinion, right? Their opinion matters to me. I know them, and they know me. I care what they think. But outside of that, whatever.” The ones he cares about are his family, friends, and the ones inside the industry.
Entering the 2025 Cup Series season as the defending champion, Logano had a big task at hand. He needed to prove that his third championship, which he secured in 2024, wasn’t by fluke and that he is fully deserving of it.
Sadly, Logano did not win the championship, which ultimately went Kyle Larson’s way. At the end of 36 races, he finished seventh in the final standings after making it as far as the Round of 8. But by no means was it a bad season for the No. 22 driver.
He has already secured his place in history as a multi-time champion. One more title would put him on level ground with the legendary Jeff Gordon and further elevate his status in the current field. Hopefully, that achievement will come sooner rather than later.
