New names like Connor Zilisch are knocking on the door of NASCAR’s top tier, and while he draws some inspiration from Joey Logano’s early rise, the three-time champion believes the landscape looks very different for today’s upstarts than it did when he broke into Cup in 2008.
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In Logano’s view, both the sport and the cars have evolved, making this an opportune moment for young drivers to make their place. Ahead of 2025’s third playoff race, he reflected on how the sport has learned to better support prospects.
He said, “I think they saw what happened for me is I jumped in so early and wasn’t quite ready. Every driver is different. Every individual is different and the sport itself has changed a lot.
“I look at when I started, if you look at the class of drivers that were out there, all of them had been there for a long period of time, and I was pretty much the only rookie and was pretty much the only rookie for the first seven or eight years of my career.“
Logano recalled going toe-to-toe with veterans who had logged decades in the series, widening the gap in experience. He also pointed out how different the cars were at the time, saying the old machines were tough to figure out and had no equal.
Fans never saw the kind of crossover talent seen today, where a driver like Shane van Gisbergen can step into a stock car and immediately shine, because those older cars were finicky and uniquely demanding.
“It took a little longer to wrap your head around it to make speed,” Logano said, before adding, “The sport has changed. I think probably the most similar situation we see right now is probably Connor (Zilisch).
“He’s an incredible talent. I think he’s going to be fine, but I also think the world is a lot different than when I got here 16 years ago, and whether it’s simulation, there are things you can study now.”
Back then, drivers had no SMT data, so the climb was steeper for many reasons. Today, rookies start younger and adapt faster.
Even then, the No. 22 Team Penske driver warned, the Cup Series remains a shark tank, where everyone is elite. There will still be a learning curve, but, as he put it, “He’s (Zilisch) going to adapt, I think, quicker than I did.”
