Logano Victorious in a Home Depot Bobsled in Lake Placid
January 11, 2010Joey Logano finally got the off-season victory he's been striving for after three attempts – a win in the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Logano drove a bobsled painted up with a The Home Depot logo and its signature colors for the annual event in Lake Placid, N.Y which saw racers from two disciplines – NASCAR and NHRA.
Melanie Troxel, the fastest woman in the world with seven NHRA wins grabbed the morning event win which saw the
NHRA and NASCAR competitors race against the clock. Logano was seventh in the morning session, but picked it up in the afternoon. Logano beat Todd Bodine in the semifinals of the annual elimination challenge match between the two disciplines to face Troxel in a one-heat shootout for the title and bragging rights. Logano would not be defeated for the third year in a row and emerged with the win by defeating Troxel by a margin of .27 of a second down the 16-turn, three quarters of a mile course. His time was 49.81 seconds.
"I'm happy with my time, and it makes it a ton of fun to finally get a win," said Logano as he sported a mock Boris Said curly-haired wig. "This is a blast. I'm still not that good, but I got lucky. I just keep asking questions, same as in my Home Depot Cup car. I didn't think I had a chance against her."
Action from the Fifth Annual Bobsled Challenge which raised money for the USA Bobsled Team will air on SPEED on Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 with a pair of two-hour programs.
Logano to Run Home Depot Toyota in All-Star Showdown at Irwindale
January 11, 2010Joey Logano will return to his racing roots when he pilots a Home Depot car in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale, Calif. The race tabbed the "Daytona 500 of short-track racing" will be held on Jan. 29-30.
"I'm really excited to have an opportunity to get back out to the Toyota Speedway for the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown," Logano said. "I had a lot of fun last year and we are going try and get the trophy back this year."
Logano, the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year winner, will carry the trademark orange and white of his Sprint Cup Series sponsor The Home Depot in the event. Although Logano will not be piloting a Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota, he will have his new NASCAR Nationwide crew chief from JGR Kevin Kidd atop the pit box for the race. The car will be entered by NASCAR Camping World Series veteran Mike Olsen a two-time East Series champion turned car owner.
"I'm really excited to have The Home Depot on board with me for the weekend," Logano said. "Mike Olson from Fadden Racing stepped up and is going to provide me with a solid car for the weekend. Kevin Kidd is coming out with me to call the race so I feel like I have a pretty good shot."
Logano set the series mark for youngest pole winner and race winner during his NASCAR Camping World Series East championship season. While both records have since been eclipsed by Brett Moffitt, Logano has gone on to become the youngest winner in NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.
The 2010 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown will air live on SPEED.
Joey Logano had the opportunity of recently taking a flight with the US Air Force Thunderbirds, this was during NASCAR's Championship week in Las Vegas.
December 4, 2009As soon as we took off it was very nerve wrecking for me and then he pulled that thing straight up and I about blacked out right off the bat, and I am like ohhh this is going to be a long one. And you know I kind of got the hang of it, and figured out what I was supposed to do and then we started to do these rolls and flips, and then I was like okay I need a break here, wasn't going to be pretty so got to do that, and it was really cool to be able to fly with the rest of them got up real close, I can't believe how close they really get, and to me it remind me of Daytona, those things are bouncing around like this and I am like, holy cow we are getting real close, so that was one of the cooler things, and pulling the 9 Gs was definitely neat, and flying around. I had a blast, I want to thank all you guys, this was really cool definitely, I'll never forget this for the rest of my life.
Logano filled in for Kyle Petty in SPEED TV's NASCAR Smarts
December 1, 2009At the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix, Arizona, the location of the Phoenix Intentional Raceway, Joey Logano filled in for Kyle Petty to partake in SPEED TV's NASCAR Smarts. If you haven't seen NASCAR Smarts before, basically it is a fast paced NASCAR trivia game that tests the contestants knowledge of NASCAR trivia and history. The show is hosted by John Roberts.
On this particular episode of NASCAR Smarts Joey Logano was teamed up with Paul, who is a service manager for Westpac Heavy Duty in down town Phoenix, and works on heavy duty trucks. Joey and Paul faced Rutledge Wood a racing analyst from SPEED TV and Chris who is a Pharmacist.
Logano driving toward the finish in eventful rookie year
November 30, 2009After top-five finishes at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, things were just OK the past two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway. I finished 19th at Texas, and that was tough. We knew that was going to happen. That's our toughest racetrack. The corners are really long, and you're trying to work on a few different things at the same time. There's no grip, and the track really changes a lot through the day.
Phoenix was a so-so 21st for the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. It's nowhere as good as I wanted. I thought we'd be a lot better. We practiced really good and found some things that changed after the race that hurt us. I guess we were lucky to come out with what we had, but it wasn't what we wanted.
Jimmie Johnson apparently wasn't happy with trying to lap me with about 60 laps remaining. I was just trying to stay on the lead lap. I think he thought that I was trying to hold him up for my Joe Gibbs Racing teammate because Denny Hamlin was running second. But I didn't even know Denny was running second. I was running my line.
I didn't even know he was mad at me. I just thought I'd do my deal, and if he's faster, he can get underneath me. Once he got underneath me, I let him go. I raced him one corner and let him go. I didn't feel like I was holding him up unless I was racing door to door. I was just fighting to stay on the lead lap. After that, I let everybody else go because at that point, you're down a lap, and it didn't really matter.
I heard Jimmie wasn't pleased in an interview, but I didn't talk to him this week. I was just trying to stay on the lead lap until the caution came out, and we'd be back in the game and be all right. That's what anyone was going to do. At that point, we were just fast enough to stay where we were ahead of Jimmie. It was back and forth every lap. Eventually, I got loose and he got underneath me. I don't feel I affected the race. The end was the same as it was going to be.
This weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, I'll run my 57th and 58th NASCAR races this season. It's the most races I've ever ran in my life in one year. But I'm fine. What else am I going to be doing? I'm a racer and want to race all the time so it's not a big deal. I'm good to go.
It'll be nice to have a break, but I'm ready to go. It's not physically taxing, just time consuming, but I like to race, so it's good. Some weekends have been crazy running from the Nationwide car to the Sprint Cup car. Besides that, there's been nothing too surprising in my rookie year. You just don't have the spare time at the track.
For JGR's Camrys to be better next year, I just feel we need more front grip to get the car turning better. That's the big deal. It seems like we don't have many issues putting the back end of the car in the racetrack. It's getting it to turn in the front. That's what everyone struggles with. I'm sure that the Hendrick cars are struggling with it, they're just turning better. It's probably the same problem, they're just a step ahead. It's something they found.
This sport goes in cycles. You've seen it go back and forth a few times. We'll all find it. All these cars are so much better now than a year ago. Everyone's still looking for improvements, but it's hard to get that little bit more.
I'll be attending my last rookie meeting for a while, and I'm going to miss it. I'll miss Sprint Cup director John Darby telling me what to do. But I guess I'll still get that anyway if I mess up.
It'll be different not having the yellow rookie stripe on the back of my car, too. I've had a rookie stripe on my car more than I haven't. I've gotten used to that part of it.
Logano Finds Key to the City in Middletown, CT
September 25, 2009I was surprised by the record turnout for my Home Depot appearance in Middletown, Conn., last week, but perhaps I shouldn't have been. Middletown is my hometown, and I was returning as the winner of the most recent Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway a few hours up the road.
Because the race isn't that close, though, I didn't know many people would come. The store was packed with more than 700 people. Even the mayor came by and proclaimed it "Joey Logano Day" in Middletown. He also presented me with a key to the city. I asked him, "So this gets me out of speeding tickets, right?" He just laughed. So I don't know what the whole deal is with the key.
Most of the people who came to the store were from Middletown, and I saw a lot of people that I hadn't seen in years. There were lots of guys who used to work for my father's waste management company. It was an unbelievably cool deal.
Logano crashes for a good cause in week of good deeds
September 13, 2009 - special for USA TODAYI've been happy to spend the last few weeks offering a helping hand while taking what felt like a trip around the world. Last week we were in Phoenix and helped out with building homes for Habitat for Humanity through Coke and Home Depot. That was a good deal.
Then we headed to Las Vegas, where GameStop was introducing a bunch of games at an annual convention for their store managers, before hitting Omaha, for a Home Depot appearance. Things got crazy leaving Vegas because our plane broke down, and it was a complete mess. But we managed to fly commercially through Denver to Omaha and then through Chicago on the way home.
We missed a connecting flight in Chicago and didn't get back until the Charlotte airport until 2 in the morning. We were leaving the airport, came around the corner and found a car flipped over. I said, "Oh shoot!" I ran to the scene with PR rep Heather Kincel and business manager Joey Civali, and we found three people trapped inside. We were very nervous because the car was in the middle of the road in a blind corner. If someone had come around the corner not paying attention while texting or something, the people in the car probably would be dead. So we made sure we got them out.
I called 911 and said, "Hey, there's a car on its lid!" while Civali pulled off the windshield to get them out. They said someone had tried to run them off the road trying to make a last-minute pass. I know what that's like. They were OK, though, and it made everything we went through (including waking up at four in the morning to catch our flight to Denver) worthwhile. That was our good deed for the day.
I got to participate in another one Thursday in Richmond. I helped build a racing-themed playground at Chimborazo Park in the east end of the city. There were volunteers from Home Depot, the city parks and recreation department, Joe Gibbs Racing and KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization. This was a cool sponsor appearance, the kind I'd rather do than signing autographs. There were so many Home Depot associates who came to work on their off day. It's really cool to see how many people want to help and be involved in that.
On Wednesday, I finished a disappointing 20th in the Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway. I had a pretty good car and was running third in a heat race when I scraped the fence with the right rear. I didn't think of it much, but apparently I caught the fence and ripped the whole spoiler off the back. There are no mirrors so I couldn't tell. I barely turned the wheel, and this thing snapped around on me and backed in the fence. That car was killed. I got in the backup car, started from the rear and had passed about half the field when I got caught in an accident. I said, "Oh well, there goes car No. 2." That was the end of my night. It wasn't very fun, but it was a little funny.
The first car was owned by Chris Wall, who's called "The Intimigator" because he worked on an alligator farmer in Louisiana. He was a really cool guy, and "The Intimigator" understood that this happens to the best of them.
It's a charity event, so I guess I wrecked two cars for a good cause. But hey, I was fast! I just had other issues. I did OK.
The Atlanta race was frustrating. I started 34th and moved up all the way to eighth, but then we struggled with the tires. One set would make the handling of the No. 20 Toyota really tight, and another set was really loose. I finally spun with about 55 laps remaining. There was just a lot of inconsistency with the tire. You saw a lot of cars doing it: Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch… I could name eight to 10 cars with the same problem.
I finished 22nd, but I still felt as if I learned something. A lot of these races lately, I've noticed if you're smart and stay on the lead lap, you can get the car good at the end and, get a top-10 finish. You've got to be there at the end. The first part of the race is getting ready, but at go time, you've got to be going and not going backward. The races are so long. You're running 15th-18th and all of a sudden, you're passing the guy who was leading the race. Holy cow. What happened?
Things change so much throughout the race. If you're junk, don't get too worked up like, "We're screwed." You can still have a top 10 finish after a junk start. You run enough races and you see that. I was never one to give up, but to see the trend, especially last week, of guys going forward and backward. Holy cow, it's weird.
As far as the Chase contenders on Saturday night, I'm going to race the same way I always do. I race everyone pretty clean. You don't want to screw someone up and hurt the chances of someone getting in the Chase. Next year it could be me. You want to be smart with that, as long as you're on your A game and don't do something stupid. You can't roll over and die. We're all out here running for the same trophy. They've just got a little extra stuff.
Did that really just happen?
July 1, 2009Can you believe I won at New Hampshire? I'm not sure it has all hit me yet, well except for the seven hours of media I did yesterday. I don't think it could have happened in a better place. I grew up not too far from there, so I saw my first Cup race at New Hampshire. Then I had my first Cup start last fall and now my first win. Just all seems to make sense. It was also my 20th Cup start, that's weird isn't it? This reminds me, I have to thank all the fans and especially The Home Depot Associates that have supported me. The good news is next year you don't have to vote me into the All Star race, we will be in it!
Ok, back to the race. I had no idea I was even leading until my spotter Mark told me when the caution came out. Then I never thought the rain would go my way. I figured it would stop and we would have to pit. Zippy and I never talked about it during the red flag, we were talking about the race up to that point and the changes we would need to make when it went green again. Jeff Gordon came up to my window and said congratulations. I was like "please don't jinx me!" David Ruetimann came over and told me he found it best to stay at the car. Heck if it worked for him I wasn't moving! Kyle and Tony came over too, it was cool to get that support from my peers. The neatest thing was that the fans cheered when the race was called. They were all standing at the fence line clapping and hollering. Usually they are ticked when the race gets called due to rain.
This win also takes off some pressure. What I didn't want to tell anyone is I really wanted to break that age record. Plus, Zippy and The Home Depot Team have won at least one race over the last 10 years, I was terrified I was going to break that streak. Seeing them in victory lane, plus my family was awesome. It's not the way I thought I would get my first Cup win, but I will certainly take it. Like Zippy and I both said, "sometimes it's better to be lucky than good." By the time we got done with all the media and I got to the plane I had 40 text messages and 15 voice mails. Again, thank you everyone that reads this and has supported me, it means a lot. Hopefully you will have plenty more to cheer for soon.
Really Busy Week, Almost…
June 4, 2009This week was going to be a very busy week for me, and it turned out Mother Nature had other plans. Dover went pretty well; obviously I was a little frustrated with the Nationwide race. To lead that many laps and not win is annoying plus it was an emotional roller coaster. I went from thinking I spun out my teammate to finding out after the race he had a tire going down and it wasn't my fault. The Cup race was the toughest top-15 I have ever earned. It started out like a race weekend from the start of the season, part of it was my fault because I didn't really know what I needed in the car until it was almost too late – I got us behind. But the guys adjusted on the car and I started to figure the track out and we came home 15th. The big thing is we are now 23rd in points. That's huge. We left Dover and went straight to Pikes Peak and tested for two days. It's a pretty neat track. Hopefully we learned a few things that will help in Loudon and Phoenix. Wednesday was supposed to be the Prelude at Eldora. I was pumped! So there were about 40 of us sitting in the airport in Concord waiting to get on Stewart's plane and we got word it was canceled because of rain. No one wanted it to be canceled so everyone stood around for like five minutes wondering what to do! I realized I actually had some free time now, so a buddy and I went out on the lake. I have to take advantage of the down time, I have a feeling there won't be much more of it this year. Now it's off to Pocono – a track I've never even seen before!
My First Top 10 – Well Not Technically
May 12, 2009I led the Southern 500, that is unreal. I really thought I was going to struggle at Darlington the way I did at Texas. I had no idea what to expect. We were all pleasantly surprised that we were quick off the truck. I know the guys worked so hard on Friday during practice, that when I posted the qualifying lap that I did everyone was so pumped. It was cool to see those guys so excited. Once the race started, Zippy and the team were just amazing. I guess to most drivers two-tire stops in the past were just crazy to do, but with the new asphalt it worked. Even though I didn't have a good car in the Nationwide race, it helped me time how to pass people. That was huge for Saturday. At one point during the race I asked how many laps were left, Zippy told me eight to halfway. I honestly thought he was kidding. That was a physically and mentally challenging race. When Zippy and the pit crew got me out front, I was gone. It's amazing how clean air affects the car. I really did pray for rain at that point. At the end we couldn't afford to gamble on fuel mileage, we really need the points and we knew we had a good car to finish in the top 10. I feel like we have momentum going – the last four weeks have been solid. I also feel like a totally different driver than I was at the start of the season. Even though I finished ninth at Talladega, a lot of that is luck. I really feel like this is our first top-10 finish and it was at Darlington of all places. Well I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day. Hopefully we will race into the All Star race this weekend, but just in case don't forget to vote!
Wild Week in the South
April 28, 2009So it was a pretty eventful week last week, on and off the track. First of all I got the chance to do something really cool on Wednesday. I had to do a media appearance for Darlington and part of the deal was to get driven around the track by Cale Yarborough! My first laps in a race car around Darlington and I have Cale Yarborough sawing at the wheel next to me. He came out in one of his old school firesuits, so cool. Talladega was a lot of fun also. Friday night I went to the dirt track and actually raced! I finished second to David Reutimann, but I have to tell you that was really fun. I can't wait for Eldora now. The race weekend went well for both cars with wild finishes in both races. I pushed my Atlanta buddy David Ragan to the win in the Nationwide race and he was trying to help me at the end of the Cup race. I got that first top-10 finish in The Home Depot Toyota though. It's big to be able to survive both races. The last three weeks we've gained a ton of momentum as a team, and I love short track racing so I am looking forward to this weekend in Richmond.
A Guitar and Testing
April 15, 2009First of all, that Gibson Guitar is awesome! I've wanted that thing since I started racing at Nashville, most drivers want that guitar. I can't tell you how much that win meant last weekend. It was big for the entire team, and me. When things aren't going the way you expect them to, like Texas, winning at Nashville reminds you why you are here. I didn't get too much time to celebrate; I've been trying to test all week. We drove to VIR to test on Monday, and then went to Rockingham to test on Tuesday. Unfortunately it rained on Tuesday so we stayed and tested on Wednesday. I had to get home and get ready for Phoenix because I fly out at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. And I am not a morning person! Hopefully we can carry the momentum to Phoenix and have a great weekend in the Nationwide and Home Depot car. Phoenix is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit - really because I've always run well there. Hopefully it will still be my favorite on Saturday night!
Bristol and Little Rock
March 25, 2009So, Bristol didn't quite turn out the way we had hoped. It was really disappointing to be honest. I guess I have to keep an optimistic view about it though. It stunk that the motor blew with eight laps to go, but at least I got over 490 laps under my belt in The Home Depot Toyota. It's hard to think if I blew up on lap 20 I would have had the same finishing spot, but right now laps are so important. The guys figured out that a rod/rocker broke. Tuesday I went to Little Rock at Rockingham, it's supposed to be a mini Martinsville. I've tested there a few times, and the test went well. It was freezing in the morning and warmed up a little bit by the end. In case you didn't know, I hate the cold. Zippy and I tried a lot of stuff that should help this weekend, or at least give us some options. I do know brakes are going to be key, think about it - 500 laps is 1,000 times on the brakes into the two corners. The good news is that we are in the top 35 and at a track that is more like what I'm used to - short and flat.
The Off Weekend!
March 16, 2009I am coming off my first off weekend of the year. Even though it rained in Charlotte the entire time, it was still fun and I found ways to keep busy. I went and raced go karts with some of my friends on Saturday - and I won in case you were wondering. The one thing about rain… it usually means there is mud! So I may have taken my Toyota FJ Cruiser with a few of my friends out off roading a little. I have to tell you, it did pretty well! Sunday, I went and saw Larry the Cable Guy. We got a chance to hang out with him before the show and he is the same off the stage as he is on the stage. He may not be the most politically correct person, but he's hilarious. He's on the road more than me I think, he said he travels about 260 days a year. His family travels with him which I think is pretty cool and he also travels with a mobile workout trailer. He said he's lost like 50 pounds. Not bad. Now it's back to work and heading to Las Vegas for a Home Depot appearance before going to Bristol. I love short track racing, I'm excited about this weekend even though Bristol is a Beast.
Back Home To Atlanta
February 17, 2009Not much time to rest after Daytona. I got one day to relax in Charlotte before I headed to Atlanta for more media. It was pretty neat to go back to where I lived for almost five years. It was an appearance for the Atlanta Motor Speedway. I raced there for years when I was younger. The morning started off with several stops to the radio stations. There are some crazy, edgy radio DJs in Atlanta. I did get a pretty cool hat from one of them. I had to get up really early, but I knew that eventually I was going to end up at the Andretti Track to race the media. I love go karts. I won at least, that would have been bad if I lost to the television media. Now I am sitting in the airport getting ready to head to California for a Toyota appearance!
Leaving Daytona
February 16, 2009Well, it was quite a few weeks at Daytona. Actually the weeks were pretty crazy but I made the most of it. I did an appearance at The Home Depot store with Zippy in Port Orange, which was cool to see all the fans there. I signed at the souvenir hauler too and I was amazed at how many people came out. The morning of the 500 was busy. First off I went out to the RaceDay stage – which was sponsored by The Home Depot. I signed autographs for the fans in the VIP area. Then I got to go on stage with Jimmy (Spencer), Kenny (Wallace) and John (Roberts). It was fun, I got a little dig in at Jimmy. It didn't really hit me that I was running the Daytona 500 until I walked out to pit road with my dad for driver intros. When I saw all the people, the cameras were going off and I saw my car and team on pit road – that's when it sunk in that I was about to race the biggest race of my career. You know it's a big day when Tom Cruise is there! Even though it didn't end the way I hoped, it was a great experience. Now I have to put it behind me and look ahead to California.
Irwindale
January 27, 2009We got out to Irwindale on Thursday and it rained, and on Friday it rained. So I slept, hung out and watched the All-Star race from last year. Then I would get into my suit and it would rain, I felt like I got in and out of my suit five times. We finally got 45 minutes of practice, and that's all we got. We were supposed to practice the next morning, but again it was raining of course but we still had to qualify. The motor was skipping and I almost drove it into the fence, so not the start we were hoping for obviously. When the race started I was plugging along and after the first 100 laps we changed the carburetor and I was able to continue to go forward. At the end there, I was going for the win. It was the last lap of an All-Star race. I went into the corner thinking it would stick, and I drifted up the track. I feel bad for the guys that got caught up in it behind me. I think I should have been in victory lane, but NASCAR saw it otherwise.
The Home Depot TV Commercial
January 10, 2009This week I got to do my first solo commercial shoot for The Home Depot at a store near Charlotte. And, they kept the store open so customers were walking around while we were filming. Some of their faces were in shock when they realized what was going on. There were about 70 people working on the shoot — unbelievable. Plus there were a ton of associates that got to be a part of it too, so I thought that was pretty cool for The Home Depot to do that (not to mention a few cameos by some of The Home Depot racing crew). You will understand that part of it when you see it. It was also neat to see how it was done from start to finish and how many times you have to do the same shot from different angles. I really think everyone will like it — keep an eye out for it Speedweeks during the Daytona broadcasts.
Bobsledding in NY
January 5, 2009Well I don't know if anyone saw it, but I finished second this year in the Bobsled Challenge in Lake Placid N.Y. It was a huge improvement from last year which made it big fun. It was a unique opportunity to go out and help the U.S. Bobsled Team. A lot of the same guys that were there last year did it again, so that made it fun. There were a few rollovers, but I can honestly say I wasn't one of them so that was good. I have a new respect for people who live up there, it was freezing! It was borderline miserable. It was nice to see the snow and we got really cool jackets. But it was nice to come home.
The Holidays
January 2, 2009I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I kept this holiday pretty simple. Christmas I just hung out with the family and saw everyone. We stayed in North Carolina, and if you saw what my schedule looks like for the next month you would know why. New Year's was pretty low key too. We just had some friends over and watched the big jump on TV. I don't know if anyone saw it, but we watched the jump on ESPN from Las Vegas — that was pretty cool. We all stayed up to watch the big ball drop and as soon as it dropped I went to sleep. I had to get up the next morning for Lake Placid — more on that soon!
Meeting Will Smith
December 12, 2008First off I should welcome everyone to my new journal. Hopefully you will like it. Before the holidays I went to the premiere of Will Smith's new movie "Seven Pounds." I walked the red carpet — I actually think I was the first one there to walk it. After I got done and some of the Carolina Panther players showed up Will arrived. I was actually a little nervous to meet him. I have to say the most impressive thing about him was how incredible he was with his fans. He walked around and signed a ton of autographs and spent a lot of time just acknowledging the fans. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him, but enough to get a picture!
