Joey Logano just won his third NASCAR title, but it’s his family he cherishes most

Joey Logano drove with his wife Brittany and their three young children on the night of Nov. 6 to Phoenix Raceway, the site of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship race four days later. With his children in the backseat, he asked, “Are you guys ready to go over there and get the flag after we win?”

After excitement and emphatic approval from his children in response, Logano realized he should probably keep his end of the bargain.

“I knew I could make this happen better,” he tells TODAY.com.

Logano did it, emerging victorious after stopping teammate and 2023 champion Ryan Blaney from passing his Ford Mustang Dark Horse on the final lap. It is his third championship in six years, after victories in 2018 and 2022.

“It still hits you,” Logano, 34, explains. “It’s hard to sleep. It’s hard to put all your feelings into words just because it’s such a big deal. It’s so hard to do these championships.”

It would be an unusual scenario in most sports for Logano to compete against a teammate with a championship on the line, but teams like his Team Penske understand the sacrifices necessary to achieve victory. Logano stayed in the zone, kept his movements precise and outlasted his teammate for the win.

“There’s no other sport where you go into the Super Bowl, if you will, and compete against your teammate,” Logano said. “It’s a tough thing, but we also know that we have to work together if we even want to have a chance of winning. So you have to be okay with finishing second to your teammate. With that approach, that made it happen.” that we could be quite strong. We were really the best two cars.”

This is Logano’s third championship win under the sport’s elimination system play-off format that has been going on since 2014. Over 10 races, the drivers go through stages of elimination until the final race, where only four drivers in the car field are eligible to win the championship.

The victory was accompanied by quite a bit of controversy on the internet. Fans have criticized the format as “gimmick” in the past, but Logano said during an appearance on the 3rd hour of TODAY it provides “high-pressure moments that fans love to watch.”

And Logano lives for those high-pressure moments.

“Personally, I perform better under pressure. That’s just what I do,” Logano told TODAY.com. “I don’t know what that is, but I have to find ways to put myself against the wall so I can push myself and I just get better.”

Logano is now one of five drivers in NASCAR history to win three championships before the age of 35. One of the other drivers in that select group is NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, now vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon was quick to praise the champions amid criticism of the play-off format.

“He is a champion driver, that is a champion team and they proved that again today. I knew when he reached these final four that no matter what he did the rest of the season – and you can argue about whether he deserved to be here or not – you knew he would be a major factor.” Gordon told NBC Sports on Nov. 10.

“That’s really neat, that’s the first I heard about it,” Logano said of Gordon complimenting him on his championship victory. “Jeff Gordon is one of the all-time greats. He’s in the top five, so it’s very special to get a compliment from him.”

It’s hard for Logano to get credit for his own work when he’s behind the wheel during a race. Following his victory in Phoenix, Logano took to social media to watch highlights of his victory celebration.

“As a race car driver, you don’t immediately see the raw emotion of everyone because you’re in the car,” Logano says. “Now you get to see some of those movies where the guys are celebrating on pit road immediately after they cross the finish line. That stuff hits you hard… you just keep reliving it in your head.”

This is the first championship Logano can celebrate with his 2-year-old daughter Emilia. Logano also has two sons: Hudson, 6, and Jameson, 4. Hudson has become a racing fan; Jameson, not so much.

‘I don’t think he really understands it all. I don’t think he cares,” Logano says, laughing.

Logano may be a top driver in NASCAR, but it’s clear that his family is his top team. He mentions a photo he saw of his family walking up to take the checkered flag after his victory in Phoenix, a moment that separates the third championship from the first two.

“It’s fun to dream about things sometimes,” Logano says. “But actually making the dream come true is a whole other level. … The trophy is cool, but the memories are in those photos.”

The original plan was for the whole family to pile into the car after the race for a drive in victory lane. But according to Logano, his daughter ultimately wasn’t into the idea.

Logano picked up his sons one by one and placed them in the car. Hudson wore a checkered flag shirt while holding the checkered flag his father had promised days earlier. His two sons were allowed to sit with their father while they ate a proper meal driving force into victory lane.

“The sport will continue without me,” Logano said. “I hope so. You want that. But I will, and I will be forgotten, and all you have at that moment are your memories, your family. That’s it. Your family becomes extremely important because you know this is your future.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com