LOS ANGELES – Had you told Joey Logano a decade ago he’d be in his current situation, he likely wouldn’t have believed you.
“There have been plenty of times in my life, especially recently over the last two or three years that I look back 10 years ago and I go, ‘Boy, I would have never called that one,’” Logano said Wednesday. “I would have never called this happening.”
As NASCAR rolls into Los Angeles this weekend for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, there’s plenty of new stuff to take in.
A new car, a new track, new paint schemes and after the silliest of silly seasons, plenty of new driver-team combinations.
Then there’s Logano’s new role.
It’s not exactly new. He’s in the same spot he’s been in since 2012, driving the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske.
When he started at Team Penske he was 22 years old, fresh off four disappointing seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing that saw him only win two Cup races.
Now, more than a decade after being labeled the best thing since “sliced bread” by Mark Martin, Logano is a former Cup champion and Penske’s lead NASCAR driver. That’s after Brad Keselowski, his teammate for a decade, joined the rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing as a driver and co-owner.
At 31, Logano is the closest thing Penske has to a grizzled veteran, despite still having his teenage looks. His teammates are Ryan Blaney (28) plus rookie Austin Cindric (23).
“I’d say, ‘Boy, you wouldn’t have called that, would you?’” Logano joked. “I really enjoy the surprise of life. You kind of roll with the punches and let things happen and try to control what you can control and ‘Jesus take the wheel’ through the rest of it and you end up somewhere and this is better than I could have ever expected.”
Logano, the 2018 Cup champion, feels like his role with Team Penske has “changed drastically” and he has “really adjusted” aspects of his life to go along with his leadership position.
“I got this new motto in my mind, less is better,” Logano said. “I want to do less things and do it better, so I’m kind of cleaning up some of the stuff that isn’t as important and focusing on the things that are the most important. I’m pretty excited about that because, obviously, as one of the leaders in the organization (that) takes on a lot more responsibility and takes on a lot more work and a lot more ability direct, especially with this Next Gen car.”
He said he’ll will be pushing his less is better approach throughout 2022.
Logano and Co. obviously want this practice to result in better results for Team Penske compared to 2021.
Team Penske only won five times last year. Blaney took home a career-best three trophies while Logano and Keselowski each had just one win, which came during the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race and at Talladega, respectively.
That was down from eight wins in 2020.
“As a leader of Team Penske I’m excited about what we’ve got coming our way,” Logano said. “The tests have gone pretty well. Our teammates are working well together. Blaney and I are probably closer than we’ve ever been and that’s a good thing. He’s seemed to step up as well, so I think the two of us can help guide the rookies into places to where all four of us can lead together in different departments and do different things, so I think we’re coming a long way.”
Logano observed there will be “some learning curves for everybody” in the Team Penske organization.
“The guys that have been here 15-20 years are gonna have a learning curve as well, much as the rookies are gonna have learning curves this year,” Logano said. “There’s lots of work to do.”