Joey Logano reflects on his 600th NASCAR Cup start

• Joey Logano will make his 600th NASCAR Cup Series start at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20.
• Logano has 37 wins, 169 top-five finishes, and 292 top-10 finishes in his Cup Series career.
• He reflected on his career longevity and the changes he’s experienced since his debut.
• Logano aims to continue racing as long as he can remain competitive and contribute to his team’s success.

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, will become the 33rd driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to make 600 career starts when he takes the green flag on Sunday, July 20, at Dover Motor Speedway.

“It’s an iconic weekend with being able to hit that 600th start,” Logano, a three-time Cup champion, said. “That’s a pretty special one as well, so it’s a busy week for sure – a short one because we’ll be traveling a lot, but it’s all good.”

Reaching the iconic milestone is huge, considering he has collected 37 victories, 169 top-fives, 292 top-10s and 32 pole positions since joining NASCAR’s elite premier series in 2008.

“… At first glance, I said, ‘Well, it just starts.’” Logano said. “Then, when you start thinking about it, to be able to be around in a sport as an athlete competing at a top level for 16-plus years, and hitting 600 starts, it’s pretty incredible to have a career that long. It’s something that I take some pride in. I’m proud of that, to be able to hit this marker. It’s a lot of starts … it went by pretty quick. It’s been a heck of a ride. This sport has been awesome to me and my family and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Logano has been in many crashes during a decade and a half of racing. His biggest spill came on Sept. 27, 2009, during the AAA 400 race at Dover Motor Speedway. The incident occurred on lap 31 of the race, where Logano’s car was hit by another car, leading to a series of violent flips.

“In the middle of that wreck, I was just hoping to get stopped and I wasn’t going to be hurt and was going to live another day,” Logano said. “To this day, it’s the longest crash I’ve ever been a part of. It just kept going and going and going.”

He has seen a lot of highs and lows since the early days of his career. He’s still at the top of his game with a great future ahead. 

“I grew up in front of everybody,” Logano said. “All of us change over the years as you grow up. Life comes at you and you evolve and keep going with it. Everybody, when you were 18 years old to 35 years old, there are some of the biggest changes in your life happen in that period of time.

“Getting married, having kids – that’s the biggest change you can ever have in your life, I think – but I did all of this in front of everybody. Everybody went for the ride with me in ways. Not to mention the lessons learned on the racetrack and how I’ve changed as a race car driver, too, over that period of time, where I was a young, cocky kid coming in to getting my humble pie and learning how to become a champion and learning a lot of lessons in front of everybody. It’s kind of neat that race fans have been around that long and they see the evolution, if you will, of myself….”

Logano’s career is going strong with a win at Texas Motor Speedway this past May and is 11^th in Cup Series points. Some drivers think of retirement at his age but he isn’t anywhere near such a decision. Being on top is where he wants to remain for quite some time.

“I always say as long as I can win. I really feel like that’s the standard for me,” Logano said. “I love racing, but I really love winning a lot more. If I can go race other things and win, I’ll go and do that, but my dream has always been to be a NASCAR driver, be a NASCAR champion and if I can win and be a help to my team, then I want to stick around.

“As soon as I feel like I’m a drag on the team and I’m not bringing anything to the table anymore, whether that’s on the racetrack or off the racetrack, that’s when I need to get out of the way at that point. I want to see Roger Penske and his race team and the people that are there be successful. I care about them a lot, so I want to be a way to contribute to that. That’s what I want out of myself.”

Logano has always reached for the stars and has accomplished many goals in his life. Still, there’s always room for a few more to strive for.  

“I guess I’ve always had high expectations for myself,” Logano said. “I’ve always expected to win championships and win races and, to be honest with you, I’ve not met my expectations, so I’ve always felt like I haven’t done enough or done good enough.

“At the same time, probably what makes me great is because I always have the feeling that I haven’t done enough. I haven’t prepared enough. I haven’t won enough. I haven’t done anything enough yet, and I think that’s probably a good thing. It’s not the most enjoyable experience when you think that way, but it’s that lack of complacency that I think has led to some success. Am I proud of what we’ve accomplished? Absolutely, I just really felt like there would have been more because that’s what I expect out of myself.”

His next goal is to win race No. 600 at Dover, DE. Sunday for his 38^th Cup Series victory.