Joey Logano opened up about his struggles during his early NASCAR Cup Series days. Logano said that while he never felt like he lost before making the Cup Series, the driver got a wake-up call and failed at the top level of competition.
Logano is an American professional stock car racing driver from Middletown, Connecticut. He debuted full-time in the Cup Series in 2009 when he took over Tony Stewart's No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing at age 18.
Speaking with former NFL tight end Greg Olsen on the Youth Inc. podcast, Joey Logano admitted underestimating the competition in the Cup Series after consistently winning in the Xfinity Series and other stock car racing series growing up.
"At a young age, I don't feel like... I don't want this to come across wrong but I didn't lose much. I'd show up and win. We didn't know why. I just was able to win," Logano said. [13:11 onwards]
"There wasn't failure that's ever happened in my career until I got to the very top, until I got to the Cup level... and that was hard for me because I never experienced failure before," the Connecticut native added. [13:40]
The now 34-year-old recalled signing with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series and thought the competition would be as easy as his earlier racing career.
"I'm 18 years old, I've never lost before, sure. I felt like I was going to be fine, it was going to be easy for me... and I failed," Logano said. [14:41 onwards]
During his four-year stint in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car, Logano only won two races (New Hampshire in 2009 and Pocono in 2012). He went up against teammates like Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who constantly fought for race wins. JGR decided to drop him after the 2012 season due to his underwhelming performance.
However, Team Penske offered Logano the No. 22 Ford for the 2013 season, which he considered a second chance. Today, Joey Logano is a three-time Cup Series champion following a championship run in 2024. He also amassed 34 more race wins under the Team Penske banner.
Joey Logano admitted to not being the fastest racecar driver
On the same podcast episode, Joey Logano shared his thoughts on his speed on the racetrack. Logano said he may not be the fastest driver but has the mental toughness to handle pressure and beat his competition.
The three-time NASCAR champion told Olsen:
"Being able to handle pressure is the most important thing, and I look at our race team. ... we show up in the playoffs way more than we do all year long. ... Our regular season was nothing to be happy about. But our playoffs were fantastic."
"Some people are born to love that pressure. Some people have to learn to love the pressure. And it's never comfortable. It's not like you feel comfortable in pressure. But for me, I find ways to back myself up against the wall and find a way to dig out of it because that's just makes me better," he added.
The Ford pilot said he perhaps is the toughest driver mentally, which allowed him to bounce back after a challenging regular season and Round of 12 last year.
"I know I'm not the fastest racecar driver on the racetrack, I know that. But I also know where my strengths are, and I think I'm the most (mentally) tough racecar driver on the racetrack."
Joey Logano is the 10th NASCAR Cup Series driver in history to win three championships or more. He joins the three-time champion club with Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and Tony Stewart.