JOEY LOGANO IS STILL LOOKING FOR LOVE
He might have three NASCAR crowns but Joey Logano still has work to do on winning the hardest race of all - fan love.
Keyboard warriors have been quick to kick him despite his most-recent championship success, with some – un-named – non-fans piling on with descriptions including "self-absorbed dickhead" and "entitled douchbag".
Another no-namer described him as “tall, goofy and has a shit-eating grin” .
But Logano has one super-fan who over-rules all the others – The Captain.
Roger Penske is arguably the most successful team owner in motorsport history and would make Enzo Ferrari envious – if Il Commendatore was still alive.
Penske hired Logano 12 years ago when his career was looking shaky after getting his arse smacked during time at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Some people saw his potential, but not many, as most viewed him as a fresh-faced piece of cannon fodder who was in the major league by mistake.
Penske, although it was more likely his motorsport boss Tim Cindric, saw something else. Maybe he liked the confident swagger of a youngster who kept getting knocked down and then coming back for more. Again. And again. And . . .
“A lot of people, experts, questioned back then why we would sign up Joey,” said Penske.
“Maybe they know now and will give other young drivers a chance to at first fail and then ultimately succeed.
“In racing, as well as business, you often learn more from losing rather than winning, and while we’ve done a lot of winning over the decades, we’ve lost a lot as well,” Penske said in a recent interview.
The haters in NASCAR have had plenty of targets over the years, as four-time champion Jeff Gordon was targeted because he was from California. Danica Patrick failed to win the fans and even legendary racers Darryl Waltrip and the late Dale Earnhardt polarised the crowd.
Since Logano is still just 34 years old and won the Cup crown in 2018 and 2022 as well as 2024, he could – and probably will – race on for the next decade and maybe beyond.
Who’s to say where he could end up on the winner’s list.
But why the online hate for Logano?
Many don’t like the fact that he’s from Connecticut in the eastern USA, which is hardly a NASCAR stronghold and is seen as “posh” in Australian terms.
However, most think he's an outsider in the NASCAR driver ranks.
The stock car series offers incredible fan access to its drivers during race weekends. As soon as they leave the team transporters they are, quite literally, besieged by fans and have to sign autographs and do countless selfies.
While some drivers love the adulation, Logano likes his quiet mind-time and fans translate that as stand-offish.
Logano has said "our fans are spoiled". Guess how that went over?
But is he selfish and out of touch? Nope.
Logano reportedly earns around $14 million a year at Team Penske and is worth over $40 million in total, which isn’t bad for a “self-absorbed dickhead”.
So how do you spend all that money? Well, Logano has all the rich list to-do ingredients - house, cars, boats etc - but he also has something else.
Back in 2013 he started the Joey Logano Foundation that, among other things, provided free meals to children during the Covid-19 epidemic back in 2020-2021.
It has raised more than $1 million a year for charitable work.
Not bad for an “entitled douchbag”.
So the best advice for Joey Logano is probably just to stay away from the (anti) social media.