34-year-old Joey Logano’s journey since he debuted with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 has been a long and arduous one. Nevertheless, it is also one filled with numerous accolades. Currently showering in the glory of his third Cup Series championship, the driver recollected how the motivation to win races has changed over these 17 years in an interview for Nasdaq’s The Winning Formula original series.
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Asked how his relationship with racing has changed since he was an 18-year-old who’d just visited Victory Lane for the first time, he said,
“I think when you’re young that dream is very selfish. But when you achieve it, then it’s like, okay, that was amazing. It was everything you thought it would be. Actually more than you thought it would be. But life changes.”
Getting older, getting married, and having kids changes everyone. And they did Logano as well. He continued,
“Now, I get more excited to celebrate with my team than I did in the beginning. Because I wanted to be champion, but now I want to celebrate with my team. I think that’s something that I wish I learned sooner. Because it brings the team a lot closer.”
This change is what led to him loving the moments after crossing the start/finish line at the Phoenix Raceway on the day of the finale. The excitement that was on the faces of his crew members appears to have become an addiction that he wants to keep.
To know that the impact of his result would resonate across the families of everyone in Team Penske means the world and is his biggest motivator now.
Logano’s realization of the impact of his victories
Logano continued to note that it was not only the 20 or so members of his crew who benefited from his success. It was also the hundreds of employees at Team Penske and the thousands at Ford. Watching him in victory lane made them all happy and had a direct effect on their lives.
He said, “It’s so big for everyone and it affects everybody’s gifts under the Christmas tree at the end of the year. It affects the bonus. To be able to deliver that? That matters more than the trophies. It matters more than the stats. It matters more than all of it.”
As much hate as there may be against the No. 22 Team Penske driver currently, none can deny that his measure of success is altruistic and admirable to the greatest extent.
The day is still too young in his career and he still has a long way to go before retirement sets in. There are too many lives left to create impact on before then.
