Joey Logano can laugh about it now because he’s finally over it, but the Team Penske driver did not have fun in 2023.
“No fun,” Logano said at Daytona International Speedway.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is eager for a clean slate. Logano was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and went to victory lane just once (spring Atlanta Motor Speedway). It was the first time in seven seasons that he was not eighth or higher in the final championship standings (he wound up 12th).
“Sometimes you have an off year, and we unfortunately had that,” Logano said. “Not everything was bad; we still did a lot of things really, really well. Our team still executes races as good or better than anybody. We can make our car finish a lot better than where it runs more times than not. So that says a lot about our team.
“If you pair that with speed, that’s where we become dangerous again. Hopefully, we can find a little speed here, which I think we will. I feel pretty confident that we will. More times than not, after a really bad year, we’ve come back pretty hard. So, I’m hoping that’s happening again.”
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Logano is experienced enough to move on quickly and digest disappointment. Initially, he had done as much after the November finale at Phoenix Raceway, but the wound was opened again a few days before the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum.
“It sucked,” Logano laughed about reliving the events watching the NASCAR: Full Speed docuseries on Netflix.
Netflix followed the reigning series champion as the postseason began, heavily featuring Logano in its episode about the first round. It was a mediocre three races for Logano, who had one top-10 finish and was eliminated after a crash at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“I don’t want to do that again,” Logano said about watching the show. “If you’re [Ryan] Blaney, it was awesome. It was great. I’d be rewatching every night. But for me, it was kind of like, ‘Aw, I have to see this happen again?’ It really brought it fresh in my mind again after I was almost over it.
“It’s motivational. It’s very motivating. I got done, I shut it off and you ever just shut the TV off, drop the remote, and you’re just like, ‘(that was) stupid.’”
L.A. in the rearview mirror, drivers and teams arrived in Daytona with a renewed sense of optimism. The word ‘excited’ gets thrown out hundreds of times daily in conversation, and everyone believes they can win races and contend for the championship.
Logano always enjoys the trek to Daytona and the start of a new season. Even after a rough season, he gets “pretty excited still” to roll through the Daytona tunnel.
“That’s how I know I still love this,” he said. “I figured that out (Tuesday) night when I pulled in. You’re coming through the tunnel and see everybody again and you’re like, ‘This is still cool. I still like it.’ I’m not ready to hang it up yet for that reason.
“I think Brad [Keselowski] told me this at one point – it’s nice that our sport has a stop time and a start time. When you think of other businesses, they just roll into the next quarter and the next, and then they get their reports. For us, we get a moment where if it’s not going well, the misery ends. It’s over. You get a fresh start, and that’s cool that sports have that because there are a lot of businesses that don’t have that. It just kind of keeps rolling. It’s nice to have a fresh start.”
In a twist of irony, Logano, who made these comments Wednesday afternoon, went out Wednesday night and earned the pole position for the Daytona 500. It’s the first time Logano, a former Daytona 500 champion, has won the pole for the sport’s biggest race.