Team Penske's Joey Logano clinched his third Cup Series title this year. Tying with friend Brad Keselowski in the all-time wins list, the NASCAR racer expressed his feelings in a media interaction ahead of the 2024 Awards banquet at Charlotte.
After being briefly eliminated from the Round of 12 in the 2024 Playoffs, Logano got a second shot at the driver's title when Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was disqualified due to a technical reason. Making the best of the opportunity, the Connecticut-born racer secured his Championship 4 berth by winning the first Round of 8 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Despite losing multiple places at the start of the final race at Phoenix, the $24 million-worth Cup Series champion took the lead after the last caution period. Logano took the chequered flag and won the Championship 4 race in a last-lap battle against his teammate and 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney. The win at Phoenix was Logano's 36th career victory.
This has tied him with Keselowski for 24th place on the all-time wins list. During a press interaction at the Charlotte Convention Center, the 34-year-old racer from Middletown expressed his feelings about having climbed so high.
"I kind of like that... Yeah, I mean, it's, I do look at it. I'd be lying to say if I didn't take a look every now and again, oh, where are we at? But it's neat to see the other drivers that are around you and it's still kind of surreal when you see the names because a lot of them are true legends of the sport that grew the sport or ones you grew up watching. You're like, wow, I'm up there with those guys now. It's surreal," Logano said (10:36 onward)
"It's hard to put into words what that means or what it's like. It's just kind of cool and then you keep moving, right? Like, it's like, oh, kind of neat. Like, that's like the Monday morning after a win. You look as though, where am I at now? And you look and you see it and you're like, cool, back to work," he added (11:17 onwards).
Video of the entire interaction is available on YouTube:
With the offseason kicking off, Logano will likely be looking forward to a relaxed holiday season, before returning to NASCAR's grinds.
"Something I’m most proud of in this industry and being part of that" - 2024 Cup Series Champion Joey Logano on the best thing about being a part of NASCAR
Joey Logano joined an elite list of drivers by winning a third Cup Series championship this season. The Team Penske driver expressed his feelings during the NASCAR Awards banquets.
"To me, we did get a lot of opportunities, and life’s really all about what you do with the opportunities, you don’t know when they are going to come your way, but are you ready to take advantage when they do. If you take the opportunity that God’s given us to talk to people, to inspire others to live a life of generosity, that’s when these scenarios of just driving in circles aren’t just driving in circles anymore," Logano said.
That, to me, is something I’m most proud of in this industry and being part of that. I’m proud of winning. I’m proud to be part of this team, but what I’m probably most proud of is the heart of this sport," he added.
As for the 2024 season, Logano won four races, finished 13 times in the top-10s, seven times in the top-5, and secured three pole positions.