- 5 months ago
HOT ROD Editor-in-Chief John McGann and NHRA lead broadcaster Brian Lohnes sit down with NASCAR champion Joey Logano in this episode of HOT ROD Pod. Logano looks back on his rise from an overconfident young prodigy to a humble
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00:00I originally thought I was one bad name of Jim.
00:03Of course, right? Why wouldn't you?
00:04Oh, watch me go. I'm about to beat all you guys.
00:07And I got out there, and the guys I used to make fun of
00:12would come off the corner just laying two black marks.
00:14We're going 180 miles an hour, and they're just lighting them up off the corner.
00:18I'm like, whoa. And I was awful.
00:27Welcome, everybody, to the Hot Rod Pod.
00:29Where it all began here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
00:31We've got NASCAR trucks in the background.
00:33I'm Brian Lones. That is John McGann.
00:35And our guest today is none other than Joey Logano,
00:38the three-time and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion,
00:41rookie of the year in 2009, a guy whose birthday is tomorrow.
00:45Yeah. Happy early birthday.
00:46Yeah, it is. Well, thank you. Thank you.
00:48Birthdays aren't as cool as they once was.
00:51Once you turn 21, it's like, what are you looking forward to anymore, you know?
00:56So, yeah. It's a big one. 35.
00:59So, eh.
01:01I mean, it's – and that's the wildest part of your story, man, right?
01:05I mean, you're going to turn 35 years old, and the level of accomplishments –
01:09I mean, you're a 35-year-old guy that's already been placed on the NASCAR list
01:12of the 75 greatest drivers.
01:13Like, this is bonkers.
01:15Thanks. I appreciate it.
01:16I feel like I've been doing this for a long time.
01:17You said, Ricky, you're back in 2009.
01:19That was a while ago.
01:21But it's been cool.
01:21It's been a heck of a ride.
01:22NASCAR has given me so many great opportunities for my family,
01:26but even, you know, to impact people in good ways.
01:29And so it's been a really fun ride.
01:31Long ride to go, though.
01:33I'm not done yet.
01:33I don't want to make it sound like I'm ending here.
01:36I got a ways to go.
01:37There's a guy named Hal Higdon.
01:38He's an author.
01:38Wrote a lot of great books about racing.
01:40He wrote one in the 70s called Finding the Groove,
01:42and he sat down with Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti and all these guys.
01:46And the one thing that came up with almost every race driver that was successful was desire.
01:50So how do you maintain for 30 years of a 35-year life now the desire to keep doing this?
01:57Because that's got to be hard, man.
01:58That's a grind.
01:58It's just a competitive fire in you, right?
02:00I think no matter what I ended up doing,
02:04I think there's this competitor inside of me that just want to win, right?
02:08And I'm pretty certain.
02:10I don't know this because I'm not done yet.
02:12But when I am done driving a race car, I'm going to have to find a way to compete.
02:16And I don't know what that is yet, whether it's in business or something.
02:21Like, in my mind, I am driven to be the best.
02:25That's all I want to be.
02:27Whatever it is, I want to be the best in the world at it.
02:29I don't care if it's picking up garbage or driving a race car.
02:32I want to be the best at it.
02:34And so at some point, you know, I mean, it's just what happens in sports, right?
02:38Absolutely.
02:39You start to lose it.
02:40I'm not there yet, but I'm smart enough to know that'll happen someday and it's going
02:44to suck.
02:45But when that happens, I'll have to find something else to go that I can go be the best at and
02:49I'll go do that.
02:50It's a weird spot for an athlete to even think that way, right?
02:54Because you have a second life that's going to happen.
02:57At some point, you have to have a reset.
02:59Well, and for you, it's going to come at a time when you're going to be able to enjoy
03:03that second life.
03:04A lot of guys that, whether it's racing or other sports, they hang out so long, they
03:07get to a point where it's like either their body's all beat up or whatever and they don't
03:11necessarily have that time.
03:12Like, you're, and again, we're not, this is no breaking news.
03:15No, it's not breaking news here.
03:16This guy's going to drive a race car for the foreseeable decades.
03:18You're in such a unique position historically that it's just, it's, we're, we've all been
03:23watching you navigate it kind of live real time.
03:25I appreciate it.
03:25I just started young.
03:26I mean, I came in when I was 18, 19 years old when I got to cut, right?
03:30I've been racing since I was little, right?
03:31But like, I got to this level at such a young age, it's, it kind of gets everyone a little
03:37screwed up on what the timing of how things were.
03:39In that period, when you were a kid coming in, who was the most intimidating person to
03:44be either around outside of the racetrack or around on the racetrack?
03:48Golly, all of them were.
03:50All of them were.
03:51I mean, you, you jump into the cup level and okay.
03:55I was 18 years old.
03:56My first race.
03:56And I originally thought I was one bad name.
04:00Of course, right?
04:01You know, I'm like, I, I won everything growing up and I was this arrogant kid coming in and
04:06I'm, Oh, watch me go.
04:08I'm about to beat all you guys.
04:09Right.
04:10And I got out there and like the guys I used to make fun of, and I thought they sucked
04:16would come off the corner, just laying two black marks, you know, we're going 180 miles
04:21an hour and they're just lighting them up off the corner.
04:23I'm like, Whoa.
04:23Right.
04:24And I, and I was awful.
04:26Really?
04:26I'm running 30th and these guys that I thought sucked for kicking my ass.
04:29And I'm like, Oh my goodness.
04:31Like, I don't even know where to start.
04:33I had to first realize I suck.
04:35Yeah.
04:35I had to realize that.
04:36What a humbling experience.
04:37Yes.
04:38For an 18 year old kid.
04:39Yeah.
04:39That was hard.
04:40And then you have to figure out, okay, where do I suck the most?
04:43So I can like start working at it and try to get better.
04:46I needed it though.
04:47Right.
04:47Like I need it as a person, like forget all the other parts of it.
04:51Like I needed to lose at some point in my life to become great.
04:55And I didn't have that moment until I got to the top level.
04:58I wish it happened sooner to be honest with you.
05:00Yeah.
05:00Because I could have learned those lessons, but not on the main stage here.
05:04Yeah.
05:05Right.
05:05As things stick with you forever in the sport, it seems like.
05:07So I wish I learned those lessons sooner, but oh, well, at least I learned them eventually.
05:13When you're talking about that, like that moment of being humble when you're 18, that's a moment that can break a lot of guys.
05:18Did you get so kind of spun out of shape that it's like, am I ever going to be able to do this the right way?
05:23You hit the nail on the head.
05:24Like that goes through your mind.
05:26Like you're human.
05:27And you can only get beat into the ground so many times before it knocks your confidence out of you.
05:33I just, I don't see, you can't BS that enough in your own mind, right?
05:37Like, you know the truth.
05:39You can't lie to yourself, right?
05:41Right.
05:41I lost my job, right?
05:43Like, I mean, I drove for Joe Gibbs racing.
05:45It got to the point that it wasn't good enough.
05:48Yeah.
05:48And luckily I had a second chance with Roger Penske and it was everything I needed.
05:52And my career really flourished after that.
05:55But the first three years of my cup career was not real good.
06:00Yeah.
06:00You know, and yeah, yeah.
06:02You had to eat the humble pie and it doesn't taste good, right?
06:07But it had to happen.
06:08Yeah.
06:08You know, it changed who I was.
06:10Changed like just how I process things, how I think of people, how I like treat people, all of it.
06:16Like it really, and I cherish winning more because I got beat so much.
06:23You need that.
06:24And you look at the best in all of sports.
06:26They've gone through it.
06:28Absolutely.
06:28Look at the goats, right?
06:30And I'm not saying I'm the goat of NASCAR, so don't take this the wrong way.
06:33But look at Tom Brady.
06:34Yeah.
06:35Look at Michael Jordan.
06:35Yeah.
06:36They weren't the best growing up.
06:37No.
06:38Right?
06:38But they were.
06:40Later.
06:40They needed that.
06:41Famously, Brady sits through, what, five or six rounds of the draft, right?
06:44And then he gets drafted.
06:45And that became one of his great career rallying cries.
06:49He would mentally call upon that all the time.
06:51Right.
06:52Do you call upon any of that stuff from the early days of your cup career?
06:55I do.
06:56I do.
06:57And I think you never feel like you're the best.
07:00Oh, yeah.
07:00You can't, right?
07:01You can't.
07:01I've never felt that way.
07:03Like, I mean, I feel like I'm the most, like, well-rounded race car driver.
07:06I think I can, like, adapt in a lot of situations, and there's, like, strengths that I have that are really good.
07:12But there's always areas I find that I'm, like, this driver's a little better at this, and this guy's a little better at this.
07:18I need to be, like, there's always something that somebody's better than me at.
07:22And I guess that's just me looking all the time because I'm still, those lessons I learned earlier, I'm still looking behind me all the time, like, hey, who's coming?
07:31You know?
07:31Right.
07:32Like, what are they doing?
07:33So you just got to keep evolving, right?
07:34The sport changes all the time.
07:36Was there someone who mentored you or at least, like, sat you down and be like, look, you know, you're not as good as you think you are initially, and, like, here's how to improve?
07:45I didn't need someone to tell me I wasn't good.
07:47It was self-evident.
07:48I mean, that's the one great thing about sports.
07:50The results are right in front of you, right?
07:52Sure.
07:52You don't have to wonder.
07:53It's right there.
07:54But I had some, you know, people that I leaned on.
07:58Mike McLaughlin's probably the one that sticks out the most.
08:01He was, at that point in my career, which was really just helping me, like, figure out how to get better, some of the things to look for, and, like, someone to just have a sounding board with.
08:11You know, he used to drive race cars.
08:13Yeah.
08:13He was a great race car driver, but he was a really good student of the sport as well.
08:18And so he helped me just figure out how to learn, like, what to look for, what to do, because everything up to that point, I relied on talent 100%.
08:27Sure.
08:27Yeah.
08:28Like, I knew some things about the cars, not a whole bunch, you know.
08:31I was like, you know, I could just show up and win, right?
08:34I've been doing it my whole life.
08:34But I didn't, like, yeah, and, yeah, exactly, and I didn't know why I was winning.
08:39I was just winning, and I had to, like, really become a student to really understand every little bit of the race car, the race craft, how you, you know, how to go fast on a long period of time, like, throughout the races.
08:52It took a while.
08:53Through your career, you've seen, I think, three different iterations of the cup car.
08:56How much different does the car inversion drive versus the car you got in when you were 18 years old?
09:02A lot.
09:03A lot.
09:03Very much.
09:05And it's, there's been, like, small rules changes, whether it's, you know, adding spoiler and adjusting horsepower, but it's the same car, right?
09:12It uses little changes.
09:13And then there's the next-gen car that is the biggest change our sport's ever witnessed.
09:18And I verified that with Richard Petty, because I remember coming here, we were here in Charlotte, we were doing the test.
09:22Like, have you ever seen, like, of any of the integrations of, yeah, evolutions, yeah, of what NASCAR is, did you ever see a change at one time this big?
09:32And he's like, no, right?
09:33Like, we're sitting here with independent rear suspension now.
09:36Quential gearbox.
09:37Yeah, every piece of it is just, like, oh, like the body.
09:41We used to look for a skew in the cars, and now they're straight up, and the diffusers underneath the cars, like, all this stuff, like, oh, like, we have to learn how to even, like, what makes this thing go fast.
09:52All the dynamics of it.
09:53Everything we used to do was wrong with this car.
09:58And so you just had to, like, it was just swinging at it.
10:01Like, what is, and it was kind of fun.
10:04I bet for you, I mean, for any driver to kind of figure that out, right?
10:07Yeah, like, you can't go off of simulation data.
10:09There is no data to put in.
10:11It's brand new.
10:11So you're just trying to figure out, like, just kind of trial and error, right?
10:14It's like shooting by the hip a little bit.
10:16You're just kind of like, oh, is this right?
10:17Is that, nope, that okay, we'll get on this direction a little bit more.
10:19And you won a championship first year of the next-gen car, right?
10:21We did, yeah.
10:22What was the secret sauce there?
10:23Like, what did you discover incrementally throughout the year that maybe other teams took a little bit longer to find out?
10:28There's not one specific thing in NASCAR that makes you successful, right?
10:32It's just so many little things that, yeah.
10:34And, like, when I look at that, I was so proud of winning the first championship with the next-gen car because it shows that your team can figure things out quickly, right?
10:44Like, we didn't – the tools that you refine over the years to create your setups, like we are now, you know, four years into the next-gen car, it's just different now, right?
10:56Because now you're relying on all these different tools that we have.
10:59Simulation, probably one of the biggest things, and going back on notes and all that.
11:02But to be, like, the kind of the first to figure it out, that just adds a little bit.
11:05To me, it added something to it, right?
11:07Like, we won the first race out the L.A. Coliseum with the next-gen car.
11:11It was like, oh, okay, that's kind of cool.
11:12Like, yeah, we're just –
11:14A little more of that.
11:15Yeah, it was cool.
11:15And then we finished it off, like, winning the last week.
11:17We bookended the season.
11:19That's pretty cool.
11:19What was the hardest thing to overcome with that change in the cars?
11:23Was it the gearbox, the engine, the power delivery, the independent rear suspension?
11:27It turns out you look at it.
11:28Are you looking at it as a crew chief and trying to set up the car, or are you looking at it as a driver?
11:32As a driver, yeah.
11:33Because it's two different things.
11:34Probably the rear diffuser is probably the biggest thing.
11:36That was the biggest challenge for us to understand.
11:39And how do we maximize the aero performance and how much mechanical performance are we willing to give up to maximize our aero performance?
11:48Like, trying to understand that.
11:50It's something we still battle every day with, but, like, understanding that.
11:53But then, like, as a driver, not only did the car drive different by itself, but in a pack, it was very, very different.
12:01I remember watching those races.
12:02It was like, wow, it was hair-raising.
12:04Yeah, and it's just completely different.
12:06Like, you know, we used to be able to loosen up the car in front of us, you know, just by taking air off the rear spoiler, getting close to it.
12:12It doesn't work like that anymore.
12:13You know, the cars used to be, you know, running sideways with a bunch of yaw in the car.
12:17And the wake would come off the side of the car and go to the right.
12:20And you can never move to the right side of a car.
12:22But now you can't.
12:23Right?
12:23So that changes it.
12:24Yeah.
12:25And, like, now the wake, if you're directly behind a car, is worse.
12:28But if you're, you know, offset, it's way better.
12:31And so that changed the restarts a lot.
12:33And how do you pass the cars in front of you?
12:35All those things, it's like, this is just backwards.
12:37Like, you just had to reset your mind.
12:39And I always said, if you're going to be a rookie, that was the best year to be a rookie.
12:43That's a great point.
12:44Because all the years of experience these guys had at that other car, because they were weird race cars.
12:49There was nothing else like it.
12:51Right?
12:51There's more race cars that are like the next-gen car in today's world than there was the old cup car.
12:56Yeah.
12:57Right?
12:57Or these trucks that are running right now behind us.
12:59Yeah.
12:59And so, for all of us NASCAR guys, we're like, huh?
13:03You've got to deprogram yourself.
13:04You've got to, yeah.
13:05And, yeah, the old dog, new tricks type thing.
13:08It takes a minute.
13:09You've got to reset your mind because you're so used to, this works.
13:13This is what I'm going to do because it works.
13:14But you had to, like, take a step back and go, that doesn't matter anymore.
13:18Hard to do.
13:18One of the things that's fascinating as a fan watching the sport is the ability for you guys, for the most part, to manage emotions inside the car.
13:26And, you know, stuff obviously can boil over outside of the race car.
13:29And that ability to make critical decisions under pressure that aren't going to wipe out half the field.
13:33There's some bit of emotion that drives people.
13:37Sure.
13:37Right?
13:38You've got to have that, like, it's okay.
13:40You've got to have the want to win.
13:41Yes.
13:42And it's okay to be a little pissed off.
13:44Absolutely.
13:44I think, like, in some ways it makes you go a little bit harder.
13:47Right?
13:47Like, when you're a little angry, you've got a little bit more in the tank.
13:50Right?
13:50Like, you know, you just don't.
13:52It's just what it is.
13:53So, I think there's a part of, like, being angry that is good.
13:56But you've got to be able to channel it to where you don't overstep.
14:01Whether it's wrecking your race car, doing something you probably shouldn't do on the racetrack.
14:07There is a piece of it that's good.
14:09But there's boundaries.
14:11And you've got to understand those boundaries.
14:13Right?
14:13And, I mean, we're all guilty of jumping over those boundaries at some point.
14:17Right?
14:18That's what makes it compelling to watch.
14:19Yeah.
14:19Exactly.
14:20But I'm okay with that.
14:21Like, emotions is real.
14:23Like, people, like, it's a real thing.
14:25We're not robots out there.
14:26Right?
14:26Like, we're, like most athletes are, they run off of emotion a lot of times.
14:32Right?
14:33I mean, we're not, you know, race car drivers, most of them, are not engineer type people.
14:37Right?
14:37Like, they can understand it.
14:40They're definitely into their cars and how they make speed and understand all that.
14:43But they're also, like, aggressive type people.
14:46Right?
14:47They're, like, the type A, going to get in there, going to, like, let's go.
14:50Right?
14:50Like, give me the ball kind of people.
14:52So, it's, you're going to deal with those emotions, too.
14:56Talk to me a little bit about the balance of hammer down, I'm going to the front, versus
14:59that's the dumb thing to do right now.
15:00I guess the simple answer is experience.
15:02Yeah.
15:03Right?
15:03Like, the younger drivers are, they're doing things and you're like, why are you doing that?
15:08Right?
15:08And they're just 100% all the time, go, go, go, go.
15:11And then they bite themselves, you know, in the butt eventually.
15:14Right?
15:14Like, it's like, ugh.
15:15But then, over time, they start to understand that, like, maybe I, you know, that wasn't
15:21the right time to do that.
15:22Maybe I didn't have to, you know, have that risky move.
15:26It wasn't worth it at that point of the race.
15:28Those type of things.
15:29It takes time.
15:31It takes a few losses, right?
15:32Yeah.
15:32It takes a few, like, ah, dang it, I shouldn't have done it that way.
15:35You know?
15:35And you've got to learn your lesson that way.
15:37Yeah.
15:37I keep comparing this to other sports, but it's like that in all the sports.
15:41Yes.
15:41Right?
15:41You come in and you're going to, you want to prove yourself.
15:44You want to go out and you just be aggressive as can be.
15:46Yeah.
15:46And you end up sometimes just hurting yourself more.
15:50But I understand that.
15:52Been there.
15:53Right?
15:53Like, all of us have been there.
15:54I work in the world of NHRA drag racing.
15:56Tony Stewart was working in our broadcast booth with us for a season before he went and
15:59started driving race cars.
16:00We were watching, it was the Atlanta race, and I was sitting next to him in our TV truck, and
16:04he looks up and Harvick's leading the race, and it's late.
16:06And, of course, Kevin Harvick in Atlanta has been spectacular for years.
16:10But what I thought was fascinating, Harvick puts, I don't know, half a train length on
16:14the field, and he looks down at me, he goes, he's screwed.
16:17And he proceeded to tell me, 30 seconds before things happened, exactly what was going to
16:22happen.
16:23And I know that's experience, but it was astonishing for me to understand, like, that
16:26was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time, and this guy's going to do this, and this
16:29guy's going to do that.
16:30How much of that can you do in the race car real time?
16:32Fair amount.
16:33Well, you know, you rely on your team a lot.
16:35But, you know, so you're in the car, you only have a certain view, right?
16:41Like, you can only see a certain amount around you, in front of you, behind you, in a strategy
16:46of what's going on.
16:47You only have a certain part that you can really understand what's going on.
16:49But that's where the preparation matters a lot.
16:52You know, when we go over strategy, I'm in all those meetings, because I want to know,
16:56right?
16:56I want to be as informed as I possibly can.
16:58And then you rely on your crew chief and your spotter to communicate with you throughout
17:03the race to make sure that you're making the right moves behind the wheel, right?
17:06Like, okay, do I need to save?
17:08How hard do I need to go here?
17:09Are we going to be, or how many more pit stops are we looking at here, right?
17:12Like, do I need, how important is it for me to be up here right now?
17:15Or can I, you know, lessen my risk a little bit on certain moves?
17:20How bad do I need this right now?
17:21And all that changes, not only through the races, but also, like, through the season.
17:26Because you got the points the way it are right now.
17:30You, do we need to win?
17:32Is it when to get in?
17:33Right.
17:33Like, do we keep going?
17:34Like, is it all or nothing today?
17:36Or is it, hey, what does success look like today?
17:40Yeah.
17:40Is it, we just got to get to the next round.
17:41Maybe we just got to finish 10th and we just don't wreck.
17:45Right?
17:45Like, that can happen too.
17:46Right.
17:47You just got to understand what the goal is when you go into the race.
17:49Obviously, with three championships, your team has navigated the playoff situation with
17:54incredible skill.
17:57What changes for you?
17:58Obviously, nothing physically, but in terms of that strategy, in terms of that race planning,
18:02does it amp up during the playoffs or do you maintain the same process?
18:05We try to maintain the same process, but the pressure's there.
18:10Right?
18:10And that pressure kind of just makes you just, you're right there.
18:14Right?
18:14You don't want to miss an opportunity.
18:16So you probably, you do a little bit more.
18:18You know, you try not to.
18:21Like, you try to do everything the same every week, all season long.
18:24But the playoffs come around, there's just a little bit more on the line.
18:27Right?
18:27Like, and it's just a little, just a little bit more.
18:29You end up doing just a little bit more, trying to find that, like, that one more percent.
18:33Right?
18:33Like, where is that at?
18:34Trying to find it.
18:35I think I do that subconsciously.
18:37Like any good athlete would.
18:39Yeah.
18:39And any good athlete in the playoff situation should be able to do that.
18:42Yeah.
18:43You've got to rise to the occasion.
18:44Yeah.
18:45And there's a lot of teams that crack under that pressure.
18:48But, like, this format we got right now, boy, is it, it puts the do or die out there.
18:53I think it's freaking cool.
18:54I love it.
18:55Because it's like, you know, if you want to win, go out there and, like, you got to show up.
18:59You got to do it.
18:59And it's so much pressure, not only on the driver, but the teams, the pit crew.
19:05I mean, you think about, you know, Phoenix.
19:08Say you're racing for a championship.
19:10Caution comes out with 30 to go.
19:11You got to come down pit road before on it.
19:13And your driver's winning the race at the moment.
19:15Oh.
19:16Right.
19:17Don't be that guy.
19:18Don't be that guy.
19:19That's real pressure.
19:21That's the real thing.
19:22Millions of dollars riding on that for so many people.
19:25I always say so many Christmas gifts underneath the tree that are relying on us to do our job right now.
19:30That's a great point.
19:31You know, those bonuses, they're real.
19:33Eventually, it's going to come down to the guys jumping over the wall, the driver in the seat, and making sure that the car stays together.
19:38Yeah, all of it matters.
19:40But when it comes down to the very, very end, it's like you don't want to give it up right there.
19:44I've heard people that are racers that are successful.
19:47I've heard them talk about winning championships and races as more of a relief than a joyful feeling.
19:52It depends on the race.
19:53Okay.
19:53You know, if you're checked out and you're just coasting it in, that's a relief feeling.
20:00Okay.
20:00Like, yeah, we had the fastest car.
20:01You just kind of.
20:02Yeah, everything went right today.
20:03Thank God we won that race.
20:04We were supposed to.
20:05But those moments where you don't know you have it and then you win, you know, like a close one.
20:12Dual right to the end.
20:13Right.
20:13Oh, boy, yeah, the joy's real.
20:15Are you kidding me?
20:16Like, yeah, I think of Phoenix last year racing for a championship.
20:19Ryan Blaney's behind me.
20:20He's catching me.
20:21I'm driving with my tongue out, trying to maintain the lead here.
20:26And, you know, it comes down to the last lap, right?
20:29When we barely beat him.
20:30Yeah.
20:31And that's not really, that's just pure joy.
20:33Like, oh, and everything was on the line.
20:35It's the championship you're racing for.
20:37And it came down to that, your whole season right there.
20:40Yeah.
20:40I mean, because, I mean, championships are so hard to get.
20:44You know, your career is judged off of how many championships you got.
20:46And so, you know, you'd hate to give one up, you know, by getting passed on the last lap.
20:52Yeah, on the last lap.
20:52Oh.
20:53I thought that would, oh, that would blow.
20:55Yeah, it would absolutely blow.
20:56But that's the beauty of the format to me as well.
20:59Where it's like that, it doesn't happen without that format.
21:02It doesn't happen.
21:04I agree.
21:04How much does physical fitness play into it?
21:06It comes into play for sure, especially in the summer months.
21:10I always say it's about 30 degrees warmer in a car than the outside airtime.
21:14So, 50 degree day, that's a bad, it's only 80 in there.
21:17Yeah.
21:17It kind of feels nice.
21:18But on a 90 degree day, it's $1.20 in there, you know, $1.30 almost.
21:22That's pretty freaking hot.
21:25You know, and you've got to be in there for three and a half hours.
21:28It's brutal.
21:29The way you train is probably why I'm used to it as well.
21:32You know, I try to do stuff to keep my heart rate up.
21:35I try to be outside as much as I can, you know, on the blacktop to try to get used to
21:40that heat the most as you can.
21:42Because if you're physically more prepared, mentally, you're going to be more there.
21:46Right?
21:46And in our sport, you know, you don't miss a shot.
21:50You smack the wall.
21:51Sure.
21:51Like when you make a mistake, when you get tired physically and you're like huffing and puffing,
21:55you're going to mentally not be as alert.
21:59And we're going 200 miles an hour.
22:01Like you have to be super alert.
22:03Yeah.
22:03Like you have to react quick.
22:05And if you can't react to the car quick enough, it's your day's over.
22:08You don't miss a shot and get to sit on the bench and catch.
22:10Forget about it.
22:11You smack the wall.
22:12You crash.
22:13It becomes dangerous at that point.
22:15Right?
22:15Like, so you just got to be in the best physical shape you can be to make sure that you're
22:20giving it all when you're on the track and you don't put yourself in bad spots.
22:24Thankfully, we live in an age where the race cars are incredibly advanced and things continue
22:28to evolve.
22:28But this is still a very dangerous thing.
22:30And there's a part of me that watches a lot of the truck series and a lot of Xfinity
22:34and a lot of Arca.
22:36And it almost seems like some of those really young guys do not conceive of the fact that
22:40they can actually be hurt doing this.
22:41They make some decisions sometimes, drive the cars in ways that just seem reckless.
22:44And I'm wondering if that has translated up into the Cup Series.
22:47I don't know if it's the reckless moves.
22:50I mean, there's some of the just mistakes.
22:52Yep.
22:52Right?
22:52Like, they don't know that that's a bad move until later.
22:56And like, eh, maybe that was a bad move.
22:57But they got to learn that.
22:59I think the thing that young drivers need to be really good at is understanding how to
23:05make their cars safe.
23:07Right?
23:07Like, that's something that I've put a lot more effort into as I've gotten older and I
23:13have kids now and all this stuff.
23:14Like, I want to make sure, okay, how do I lessen my risk of concussion?
23:18How do I lessen my risk of any kind of injury?
23:20How do I keep my back feeling good for a long period of time to where I can race longer?
23:26It doesn't mean that the moves I make on the racetrack change.
23:29I got you.
23:29Right?
23:29Like, I am just as aggressive as I've always been.
23:33So, it never goes through my mind like, oh, boy, this is a dangerous move.
23:37I shouldn't do this.
23:38But I'm also, like, when I'm not in the heat of the moment in the race car, I can look at
23:43it and say, okay, is my car, my setup inside the car the safest I can possibly make it?
23:49Is everything restrained the way it should be?
23:51What can I, how can I hurt myself?
23:54And there's usually, just like you would at end of practice, you'd go through your car
23:58setup and say, okay, how can we make it better?
24:00After every crash, you need to go back, look at the in-car footage, figure out what even
24:07hurts a little bit.
24:08Because every time I wreck, I think, gosh, that could have been better.
24:11I mean, I need to do this a little bit better.
24:13My headrest needs to be a little better.
24:14My helmet, I need to adjust some padding in that and make sure it fits my head better.
24:17You know, like, here's this little stuff that you've got to continue doing.
24:21And, like, sometimes I look at the in-car cameras of these trucks, like I do a lot of
24:25the broadcasts.
24:26Yes.
24:26And I see where the head is in the headrest, and I'm like, oh, no.
24:29So, right?
24:30And I took a, like, last week, I took a picture of a driver, and I sent it to someone
24:34at NASCAR that helps these drivers and teams get to where it needs to be.
24:38Because I saw it, I'm like, he's going to get hurt.
24:40And I don't, like, on my own conscience, I don't want to see that.
24:43Right.
24:43Now that you've seen it, you can't unsee it.
24:45Yeah, like, I know it's bad now.
24:47Like, I've lived it.
24:47It hurts.
24:48Like, I don't want to stretch my neck out.
24:49You know what I mean?
24:50If you can do all that stuff good, you can be aggressive in the car.
24:53You've raced for Roger Penske now for 13 years, right?
24:56Was it 2012 was your first season with Penske, or 2013?
24:59Because you mentioned the fact, hey, I lost my job, right?
25:01I lost my job.
25:02You're out there in a free agent market.
25:03Probably an emotional low point for you at that point.
25:05So what did they see in you that would allow them to bring you into one of the most prestigious
25:10racing organizations in the history of auto racing?
25:13And now this becomes a decade-plus relationship.
25:15I probably got to ask them to know for sure.
25:18I know the position they were in, they've gone through, at that point, three drivers in
25:23the last year.
25:24And they needed some stability.
25:27That was the number one thing they needed.
25:29Obviously, if you race for Roger Penske, wins are expected.
25:32Yes.
25:32Right?
25:32Like, that's for sure.
25:34I think they saw that, you know, I won a lot of Xfinity races.
25:37I knew I can win.
25:38Brad Keselowski at the time was driving over there.
25:40It was a big, big help of getting me there.
25:42I think he saw a lot in me that you just got to have the right people around me and the
25:48right support and the right things to make it work.
25:50He saw the potential that it was there.
25:52I think he saw that I could be a good teammate.
25:55You know, I was going to work together and we were going to try to figure out how to win
25:57together and we can do that.
25:59We're ages were semi-close at the time.
26:01I think that all of that together was kind of like, okay, I think we can, you know, give
26:05him this chance.
26:06And, you know, I'm not the guy that's going to go out there and I don't go drinking and
26:11partying and, you know, I'm a racer.
26:14I just want to race.
26:15Like, I'm very, like, I'm simple-minded.
26:17And I think that...
26:18Which, again, is a crazy part of your story because a lot of guys that grow up at the
26:21racetrack aren't that way.
26:22Yeah.
26:22A lot of guys that grow up at the racetrack, in fact, are the exact opposite way of that.
26:26Well, what do you do it for?
26:27Oh, yeah, exactly.
26:28There you go.
26:28I don't do this for fun.
26:30If I want to go have fun driving something, I'll go drive my four-wheeler.
26:33Right?
26:34Like, I'll have fun driving my car.
26:36But I don't come to this racetrack to have fun.
26:40Yeah.
26:40I come here to win because there's just too much on the line.
26:43Yeah.
26:43Like, what's the goal?
26:45The goal is to win championships.
26:46From day one when I was six years old, it's NASCAR champion.
26:49That's the goal.
26:50So, why would you get to this level and just, like, man, I made it and have some fun and,
26:56like, enjoy it.
26:57I'll enjoy it when I'm done.
26:59You know?
26:59Like, I do enjoy what I do.
27:01Don't get me wrong.
27:02I enjoy it, but I just don't do it for raw fun.
27:06I'm not willing to give up anything on the racetrack to just enjoy something.
27:10I hear people in the sport of drag racing sometimes out here about, we're going to go out and
27:14have some fun today.
27:15I think you're going to get your ass kicked.
27:16You're going to kick the guy's ass.
27:17Right.
27:17Right?
27:18I mean, if we're going to have fun, it means we have to win.
27:20There you go.
27:21That's the only fun thing I see in it.
27:22You know what I mean?
27:24Like, what is the style of coach?
27:26What is the style of leader that you best work with?
27:29Crew chief, whatever.
27:30The honest ones?
27:32Just feed it to me straight up.
27:34That's what I always say.
27:35Just give me the truth.
27:37I know sometimes it hurts.
27:39It does.
27:40Yeah.
27:40Delivery matters a lot.
27:42Like, how you deliver the truth.
27:44But just sometimes just stop sugarcoating it and tell me where I'm at.
27:48You know, where are we?
27:50But I think the biggest thing that I see a leader can do, whether it's myself or my leaders
27:57that are, you know, ahead of me, is we got to have support with each other.
28:01Right?
28:01Tell me I'm doing something wrong.
28:03That's fine.
28:04But also have my back.
28:05Right?
28:06And we're going to do a lot of this stuff together.
28:08Dead to me is what team is.
28:09Right?
28:10Team is not, hey, you screwed up.
28:12Well, see you later, bud.
28:12You're out.
28:13We don't want you here anymore.
28:14Now, sometimes that's a decision it has to make.
28:17Yeah.
28:17Like, but I'd like to be the leader that says, hey, like, I know you screwed up.
28:23You definitely did.
28:25Let's figure out how to make sure it doesn't happen again.
28:27You're going to be all right.
28:28Like, you're still great at yada, yada, yada, you know, and you move on.
28:32And you go race again next week.
28:33Because I'm going to make mistakes, too.
28:35Right?
28:35Like, I don't want every time someone makes a mistake that I'm MFing them over here.
28:41Right.
28:41And then, oh, next week, I back it in the fence, you know.
28:45Hey.
28:46Now what?
28:46Remember that time?
28:47Yeah.
28:48I don't want that either.
28:49Yeah.
28:50No, people have long memories for stuff like that.
28:52Yeah.
28:52That's for sure.
28:53Absolutely.
28:54Well, man, it's been a pleasure to sit down and chat with you, Joey.
28:56It's an incredible career that, again, has decades in front of it.
29:00Congratulations on everything you've accomplished so far.
29:02And good luck out here this weekend.
29:04Yeah, it should be good.
29:05It's awesome you guys are doing this.
29:07I've been a fan of the publication for a long time.
29:09And, obviously, the podcast now is super cool.
29:11It's awesome.
29:12He's Joey Logano.
29:13He's John McGann.
29:13I'm Ryan Lones.
29:14He's going to go out there and kick some ass this weekend.
29:16I promise.
29:17You promise?
29:18Wow.
29:18It's going to happen.
29:19All right.
29:20Now I better ask her up.
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