"You never, ever break the cycle!": When 22-year-old Joey Logano opened up on his NASCAR race conduct

In a 2012 interview, Joey Logano opened up on his code of conduct on the track. Logano, who had been with Joe Gibbs Racing for his fourth and final season, would move to Team Penske from 2023 onwards, a team he remains with.

At Penske, Logano has won three Cup championships and all but 2 of his 36 Cup wins. But it was at JGR where the young driver gained the attention of the fans and his peers.

In 2012, Logano was only 22 years old. But his understanding of how to conduct himself in a NASCAR race was ahead of his age as he described (via sbnation.com):

"For me, obviously at the beginning of the race, you don't want to go too hard. But if you're around that guy who races you hard all the time, what happens is it's a never-ending deal. If he races you hard all the time, then you race him hard all the time; well, then he feels like you race him hard all the time so he's going to race you hard all the time. You never, ever break the cycle! So it's really hard to get through that."

Joey Logano touched on people who race hard "all the time", because of which they end up wrecking more than others. As for restarts, Logano mentioned that there's not much to give or take as everyone is "racing hard." But when it's a matter of a long green-flag run and he has a driver who is faster than him chasing him, he said he had not much to lose in letting that driver pass instead of making him angry which could cost him later in the race.

"On the other hand, if you're trying to stay on the lead lap or fighting for the lucky dog, you're going to race like it's the last lap. So, to me, it's just common sense. You just be smart out there and try to position yourself for the end of the race. That's what it's all about," Joey Logano added.

To the young driver, there was a time to go and a time not to go

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Joey Logano warned NASCAR would 'fall apart' if rules weren't enforced amid Martinsville controversy from 2024

In last season's race at Martinsville, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, both Chevrolet drivers, were found guilty by NASCAR of race manipulation in favor of HMS' William Byron. Sharing his thoughts on NASCAR maintaining the sports' integrity in the wake of this episode, Joey Logano had some strong opinions.

"Well, it's everything, right? I mean, you see plenty of documentaries on how sports and people have kind of done things in the wrong way, how it can destroy a sport. NASCAR is backed up against the wall to where they had to do something, right? They have to do something to control us. It's everybody, right?," Logano said. (via motorsport.com)

The Team Penske driver emphasized the importance of enforcing the rule in such scenarios. In fact, according to Logano, if the rules weren't enforced the sport would "fall apart."

After the Martinsville incident of alleged race manipulation, NASCAR issued some heavy penalties as both crews of Chastain and Dillon collectively faced suspensions of nine people and over half a million dollars in fines.