Kyle Larson races in sprint cars, so does Christopher Bell, and even former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart used to race in it, but not Joey Logano. There’s no way the three-time NASCAR Cup champion would ever get behind the wheel of a sprint car and go dirt racing, or at least that’s what he says.
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A few days before he won last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, Logano went to the adjacent dirt track last Thursday to watch a night of High Limit Racing sprint cars on the dirt. Larson is one of the series’ co-owners.
“Yeah, it was cool,” Logano said during his Cup post-victory press conference after Sunday’s win. “Those guys are just BA (bad ass), man. It’s cool to watch the speed that they carry.
“It’s a totally different discipline. You see what some of those guys do trying to switch back and forth from one to the other. It’s such a different discipline to race a sprint car. I’ve never driven one, but gosh, it just looks completely different. It’s fun to talk to them. They’re all real nice people, too. It’s cool.”
While sprint car racing may be cool, Logano has family and professional responsibilities that would preclude him from getting serious and actually doing it.
The way he looks at it, the closest he’ll get to sprint car racing is as a spectator.
“There was a want to do it for sure, but also I think about my family,” Logano said soberly. “I think about the position I have as a job. I think about my sponsors. I think about (team owner and his boss) Roger Penske and think, ‘(I) probably shouldn’t be doing that.
“But it does look fun, there’s no doubt about that. It looks fun. If you could take some of the risk away, I would probably do it.”
Like Logano, Tyler Reddick Cites Cup Duties As Reason to Not Enter Dirt Racing
Fellow NASCAR Cup racer Tyler Reddick actually has driven a sprint car extensively. Early in his career, he graduated from kart racing to mini sprints, midgets, dirt late models, and full-fledged sprint cars.
But it likely will be a long time before Reddick gets into a sprint car once again.
“If it was up to the boss lady (his wife), I’d never get back in a 410 sprint car, that’s for sure,” Reddick said with a laugh. “If I could find a way to pull it off, a great time to do is when she’s busy with baby No. 2.”
But that may not be the best idea to try and deceive his better half if he were to go out and drive in a sprint car race in secret.
If that were to happen, “I wouldn’t be shocked to find some of my personal belongings in the garage,” Reddick added.
