In every sport, there is an evolution that takes place in one way or another. In NASCAR, we have seen generations of cars and drivers change over the past couple of decades in NASCAR. However, the unspoken rule of mutual respect between drivers is not one of the things anyone would have wanted to see change. Speaking of which, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Joey Logano recently spoke about NASCAR not being what it used to be in terms of how drivers race each other on the race track.
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In the highlight of the recent Denny Hamlin–Kyle Larson controversy, the subject of respect on the racetrack has become a matter of interest once again. This is exactly what Logano elaborates on while giving a Tony Stewart example to highlight how on-track attitudes have changed in a negative manner.
Joey Logano reflects on the old ways of NASCAR racing etiquette
While speaking with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, the Team Penske driver mentioned, “Shoot, guys, I was the most aggressive driver on the racetrack eight years ago. I’m not anymore. No way. Like, I used to be the guy that was the one going, making three-wide moves and not letting anybody go. And race and really, really hard everybody, you know, like just cutthroat.”
“The whole field is that way, every single one of them. There’s not one driver out there that’s given up spots like they used to, right? I mean, Tony Stewart used to be the king of this right? If you were faster than he was, he’d just roll over and let you go. Now he expected the same that he got back to him… That was the unwritten rule is that everybody would, ‘Okay I know you get close enough. I’ll let you go make my life easier and I can keep racing.'”
🗣️ “I was the most aggressive driver on the race track 8 years ago. I’m not anymore. No way.” #NASCAR@Team_Penske‘s @joeylogano says “everybody is cutthroat at this point” in Cup in part due to passing difficulty.
💭 “It’s not what it used to be.”
🎧→ https://t.co/oek7E77UMS pic.twitter.com/KKOEPLtW5O
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) August 3, 2023
“It’s hard to make the passes now, It’s hard to like move yourself to the field… It’s not what it used to be. Where you could just drive to the field anymore because you had a car that was four-tenths faster than the majority of the cars.”
“You can run 23rd and be a tenth and a half off the fastest guy on the racetrack. Well, good luck making up that difference all the way up to the front like it’s just gonna take forever. So everybody knows that now. Everybody just does not let anybody go. It’s just what it is.”
Kyle Busch had previously spoken about the lack of respect in NASCAR racing lately
Respecting each other on the race track has often been the unspoken rule of racing in NASCAR. However, something seemed to have changed over the past couple of years. A few months earlier, Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch had been one of the first to speak out about there being a lack of respect in the garage with the younger drivers coming into the sport.
Speaking at the post-race conference at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch mentioned, “We have completely lost any sense of respect in the garage area between drivers. That’s where the problem lies. Nobody gives two [expletives] about anybody else and it’s just a problem where everybody takes advantage of everybody as much as they can.”
Busch’s comments had come after his former JGR teammate Denny Hamlin had tangled with Ross Chastain. Furthermore, Busch also mentioned how he stopped talking to the younger guys about the subject after he tried but failed at doing so. Busch concluded by arguing that making such moves would inevitably boil down to physical altercations.
