moving toward having a larger sample size of races determine the champion<\/a>.<\/p>\nIt would be fitting if Logano ended this era with another title, but he\u2019s in a poor position to do so after last week\u2019s race at Las Vegas. With two races remaining in the semifinal round, Logano likely must win one of them to advance to the championship race.<\/p>\n
He also happens to be tied with the best odds of winning at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, and no one who has paid attention to his improbable title runs would dare count him out yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone is surprised,\u201d he said of still being in contention. \u201cWe\u2019re just doing our thing and playing by the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a world of cynicism, Logano refuses to fall in line. He expresses himself with such positivity that it tends to irritate those who have a less sunny approach to NASCAR or life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey hate me because I smile,\u201d Logano said of his critics.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just fans who are rubbed the wrong way by NASCAR\u2019s biggest optimist. Logano doesn\u2019t like it when his fellow drivers whine or complain about this or that, and he has told them as much to their faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook what we get to do. This was your childhood dream. You\u2019re gonna complain about your childhood dream?\u201d he told them. \u201cThe fact is you\u2019re getting paid to drive a race car. And the fact is you\u2019re not happy about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a problem. I don\u2019t get that. I\u2019ll never understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Logano acknowledged his speeches fall on deaf ears and \u201cnobody wants to hear it.\u201d Negativity can be contagious, particularly in groups. So why doesn\u2019t Logano just conform to the more pessimistic outlook instead of trying to infuse others with brightness?<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you can\u2019t let people change who you are,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t let people change your view on life and understanding how great things really are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps some of Logano\u2019s philosophy is rooted in his appreciation for still being a NASCAR driver after more than 600 career Cup Series starts despite, as he described it to\u00a0The Athletic, not being one of the fastest drivers on the racetrack.<\/p>\n
Though he was a much-hyped prodigy before he made it to NASCAR\u2019s top levels, Logano said he had an \u201cuh oh\u201d moment during his second season when he realized he did not possess the raw speed to compete with the greats.<\/p>\n
So he transformed himself into NASCAR\u2019s version of a scrapper, an aggressive athlete determined to out-hustle the competition like a basketball player who shows up wearing knee pads.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the fastest guy out there; I\u2019ve accepted that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I can still outwork everybody. I can still look at the details more than the next guy. And if that\u2019s how I\u2019m going to earn my advantage, that\u2019s what I\u2019m willing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad Keselowski, Logano\u2019s former teammate at Team Penske, recently told The Athletic that Logano is \u201cthe most rounded guy in the field,\u201d which is what it takes to be successful in today\u2019s ultra-close Cup Series racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe probably doesn\u2019t have the go-fast that Kyle Larson has, but he\u2019s very well-rounded in all the aspects of the game \u2014 restarts, pit road, passing, defense,\u201d Keselowski said.<\/p>\n
To that point, Logano said there are only two categories where he might be better than any other driver: Superspeedway racing (like Talladega this weekend) and mental toughness (which shines in the playoffs). In every other area, Logano said, he\u2019s \u201cjust pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
But being pretty good has translated into enough success for the 35-year-old to be considered a guaranteed first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer someday. He is one of only 10 drivers in NASCAR\u2019s 77-year history to win at least three championships, and he is 23rd on the all-time wins list. He already has more career victories than 25 current Hall of Famers.<\/p>\n
His legacy within the garage and broader NASCAR community matters to him, but the statistics do not, he said. His achievements create a platform for him to make an impact on people, but those stats won\u2019t matter within two years after he retires.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s the next thing you\u2019re going to do to make an impact somehow?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That impact, he figures, will not include the ability to convince a large number of people to adopt his worldview. That\u2019s where Logano\u2019s optimism fades.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t see that happening,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s the realist in me. That\u2019s just our world. I don\u2019t ever see that changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also don\u2019t think that means I should be like everybody else. All you can do is be you and try to be the shining light in your room. I just feel like I\u2019m that person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three-time and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano had just started a postrace television interview earlier this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,12716,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-219701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-motorsports","11":"tag-nascar","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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