Logano’s had full-circle year
Caps 2018 with title
Popular NASCAR driver Joey Logano bookended a pair of life-changing events in 2018.
Back in January, Logano and his wife, Brittany, celebrated the birth of their first child, a son named Hudson.
On Sunday, Logano took the checkered flag in the 20th Annual Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway to capture his first Monster Energy Cup Series championship.
Logano became the 33rd driver to win the Cup Series championship. He finished ahead of four other Championship 4 drivers — last year’s Cup champ Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who collectively have won three of the last four NASCAR Cup Series titles.
“It’s amazing and I don’t know if there is a correlation of not but it’s incredible to have a year when you have two of the biggest things that can happen in your life,” said Logano yesterday morning before a media blitz of Manhattan.
“The birth of your first child, I’m sure a lot of people know what that feels like. Honestly, that’s bigger than winning the championship. But then at the end of the year you think how long it has taken and how hard we worked to get to the top of our sport.”
The victory was especially sweet because Logano missed the playoffs in 2017, finishing 17th in points. Logano advanced to the playoffs this season with three wins, 13 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes along with one pole.
Logano and crew chief Todd Gordon set their sights on Homestead after winning Oct. 28 at Martinsville, the first race in the round of eight in the NASCAR playoff format.
“The biggest advantage we had was winning Martinsville because it allowed us to focus in 100 percent on Miami,” Logano said. “While everyone was racing with their tongues out trying to make it for the championship race in Miami, we were already in.
“We were able to focus on building one race car, not three, and every conversation we had for weeks was about that one race. Nothing was a surprise when we got there.”
Logano made use of all his advantages while operating the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford on the 1.5-mile oval. Logano passed Truex on lap 256 and held on to win by 1.725 seconds with an average speed of 133.056.
“I couldn’t have picked a better way to lay that race out,” Logano said. “The Championship 4 finished 1-2-3-4 so you know you beat the best and there was no gimmick or a car blowing a tire or having a bad pit stop that would have been the champion.
“You can’t say that. We beat the best that day and that is something we are most proud of because there are no gifts.”
Logano, a native of Middletown, Conn., became the first New England driver to win a Cup Series championship, a distinction he wears with pride on the sleeve of his fire suit.
Logano won his first Cup Series race as a rookie at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 28, 2009. He saw his first Cup Series race at the Magic Mile at age 7 and he considers it his home course.
“It is really great to say we brought a NASCAR championship to New England and I’m really proud of that,” Logano said. “I honestly look at that race at Loudon as one of the biggest races I’ve ever won and that one meant the most to me.”
Logano was the youngest driver to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, to win a Cup Series race (NHMS), and to capture a Cup pole (2010 at Bristol). Now 28, Logano is only the fourth driver since 1990 to win a Cup Series championship before turning 30. The others are Team Penske mate Brad Keselowski (2012), Kurt Busch (2004) and Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Gordon, who did it in 1995 and 1998.