Joey Logano has rebuilt career and Team Penske organization while racing to 3rd NASCAR title

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Two wins in four seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing certainly didn’t get the job done for Joey Logano, not after replacing Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and entering NASCAR with the nickname “Sliced Bread” because you’re allegedly the next best thing.

He knew his days with Gibbs were winding down in 2012, the same time Roger Penske found himself in need of a driver. It was then-Penske driver Brad Keselowski who introduced the team owner to Logano. Keselowski was convinced the 23-year-old could still be as good as predicted with a change of scenery.

Keselowski was right: Logano joining Team Penske changed the entire organization. It only happened, Penske believes, because the organization pledged its support to Logano at his lowest career moment.

“I think first he had to shake off some of the reputation he had. They called him “Sliced Bread” I think it was, or whatever it was,” said Penske. “But he shook that off pretty quickly. We were behind him, and I think that was key, and he just grew and grew and grew.”

Logano has taken his second chance with a top-tier NASCAR team and become a star of the series. He will be feted Friday night at the season-ending awards ceremony for winning his third Cup Series title; Logano is now the the only active three-time champion in NASCAR and one of only 10 drivers in history to win three or more titles.

He’s done it all with Team Penske, which threw Logano a lifeline when he could have quickly washed out of NASCAR. His championship won earlier this month at Phoenix Raceway gave Penske three consecutive Cup titles — 2022 and 2024 with Logano, with Ryan Blaney sandwiched in between. Blaney finished second to Logano this year.

Bombing out at JGR ultimately put Logano on a far better path. Since joining Penske in 2013, Logano has logged 34 of his 36 career Cup Series wins and three championships. When he was 18 and rushed into a Cup seat vacated by Stewart at Gibbs, he won two races over four seasons and never finished higher than 16th in the standings.

He let the JGR flameout light his fire for his move to the No. 22 Ford.

“I don’t think it’s the No. 1 motivator, but you like to prove people wrong, don’t you? You know what I mean? You’d like to shut up the critics,” Logano said. “I don’t have anything bad to say about JGR. I think they’re a great race team, and I understand the decision they made. We weren’t winning. Something has to change.

“But do you take that with you when you leave a little bit? Yeah, you probably do. You’re a little bitter about it,” Logano added.

Logano thrives on driving with a bit of an edge, finding something he can take as a slight and use for motivation.

In winning title number three, Logano left Charlotte Motor Speedway in October eliminated from the round of eight. Hours later, Alex Bowman was disqualified for failing post-race inspection. Logano was suddenly back in.

He then won the opening race of the third round to become the first driver to earn an automatic berth into the championship finale.

Logano over the final month of the season used every bit of criticism against him to push him to another level. He wasn’t the new kid in NASCAR anymore and he didn’t have a great year — just a single victory during the regular season on fuel mileage, no less — and he was ranked 15th in the 16-driver playoff field.

He was wound so tight headed into the finale that he was uncharacteristically graphic in his post-qualifying news conference when asked if it was his championship to lose and Logano said: “Yeah, we’ve got ‘em where we want ’em. We just gotta put our foot on their throats from here.”

He was then up at 6 a.m. on race day reviewing notes with Paul Wolfe, now the only active three-time champion crew chief.

Logano, a father of three and considered a team leader at Team Penske and Ford, said something changes inside him when he can see the finish line.

“It’s just closer to the goal I become more intense, probably a little shorter-fused,” Logano said. “I try to achieve the same intensity level all year long, but it just seems like when it comes down to the end, you find another gear, and it’s really hard to get to it a lot of times. But I think that’s throughout the whole team, too. It’s not just me.”

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