Racing, especially NASCAR, is a cutthroat business, and no one other than Joey Logano knows this better. Having adapted to the world of stock car racing in a way that caused ripples in the industry due to his on-track demeanour, up-and-coming racer and future full-time Cup Series star Connor Zilisch seems to be taking notes from the Team Penske star.
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On of the many ways Logano achieves success on the track is by separating who he is as a person when he is inside the car and when he is outside it. Many people recognize Logano as the ultra-aggressive racer, a reputation which the #22 Ford driver has himself earned over the years.
However, outside the car, Logano seemingly mellows down to an extent where one would not expect him to flat out dump someone like William Byron to win like he did at Darlington back in 2022. Jeff Burton elaborated on how Zilisch also has this split personality trait on a recent episode of NASCAR’s Inside the Race.
“Joey Logano does this split personality. You got to be one car in the car, another guy out. Connor, at his age, kind of has that. When you talk to him, you’re talking to this really nice young man, and then he puts his helmet on and he turns into a different dude,” explained Burton.
“I think that’s required. You’d like to find a way to be a great human being out of the car, but then a self-serving guy that only cares about him and his team in the car,” he added, while also touching on how the balance is very difficult to achieve as a person.
While he might not be the most popular driver in the garage every week, Logano’s strategy has unarguably earned him great success in the sport with three championship trophies to his name. If Zilisch aims to achieve similar levels of success in the future, his split personality on and off the track will only help him going forward.
Zilisch himself relates to Logano’s career path in NASCAR
The JR Motorsports regular in the Xfinity Series as of now, Zilisch, also admitted how he feels Logano’s progress in the sport’s top tier could help him learn a thing or two.
Elaborating on how Zilisch sees similarities between the three-time champion and his own path in the sport, the #88 driver also seemed interested in how the Penske man navigated the perils of NASCAR, especially on the mental side of things.
“He [Joey Logano] made his Cup Series debut at 18… So, I’m curious to see kind of what his mindset was, the mistakes he made, the things he went through that he wished he didn’t. But I feel like that’d be cool to kind of hear about and see if I could learn anything from him,” elaborated the 18-year-old on an episode of the Rubbin’ is Racing podcast.
With a seemingly bright future in the sport awaiting Connor Zilisch, it only remains to be seen how he treads the fine line of being nice and selfish in a cut-throat business, all at the same time.
