Joey Logano is no different from any other Team Penske driver in understanding the significance that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays in company history. He is well aware of the expectations Roger Penske (pictured at left, above, with Logano) has for his drivers, not just to run well but to win at the Speedway. And he knows that like clockwork, there will be questions about those very things whenever the Brickyard 400 is next on the calendar. <\/p>\n
But Logano is also comfortable enough to acknowledge that driving for Penske does nothing to change his desire to win one of NASCAR\u2019s crown jewel races. In fact, the three-time Cup Series champion is not afraid to admit that he\u2019s selfish when it comes to Indianapolis. <\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to win here; it didn\u2019t change much (driving for Penske),\u201d Logano said Friday after giving a handful of media members a tour of the Team Penske section of the newly renovated IMS Museum. \u201cI remember the first time I came here was for a test, I made a lap, and I was like, \u2018Whoa. This is so cool just to go around the place.\u2019 So, it hasn\u2019t changed much. <\/p>\n
\u201cI put the same amount of pressure on myself to win. Obviously, I want to win for Roger everywhere, and I want to continue the things that he\u2019s built here, adding to this exhibit. But I want to win the Brickyard for me. That\u2019s one that, for me, is on the list. I get we all enjoy it, but I have a selfish motive behind this race a little bit, that I really want to win.\u201d <\/p>\n
What does he mean by selfish motive? <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s Indy,\u201d Logano said. \u201cEvery driver wants to win here. You have to win at Daytona, and you have to win at Indy. It\u2019s just something that you want to know what it feels like.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition to his championships, a 2015 victory in the Daytona 500 appears on Logano\u2019s resume. But it is the only crown jewel win Logano has to date. Charlotte, home of the Coca-Cola 600, and Darlington, where the Southern 500 is held, have eluded Logano, as has Indianapolis. <\/p>\n
Logano has made 13 starts at Indianapolis, nine of them in a Ford for Penske. All of the laps he\u2019s led at the Speedway \u2013 80 – have been behind the wheel of a Penske car. The closest he\u2019s come to winning a Brickyard 400, which by the numbers were second-place finishes in 2015 and \u201919, and other top-five finishes in 2014 and \u201917, were, yes, in a Penske car. <\/p>\n
Penske, who has dominated the Indianapolis 500 in open-wheel racing, has a lone Brickyard 400 win to his name. Brad Keselowski accomplished the feat in 2018. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m human: I get jealous every time I see someone kiss the bricks because I haven\u2019t done it,\u201d Logano said. \u201cI want to know what that feels like. I\u2019m human, too, and I want to win. I see that, and it makes me mad. It\u2019s like, \u2018Ugh, I want to do that!\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been close so many times. I\u2019ve been really close. Even last year, we were close before we got wrecked – we were in position to win it. It hasn\u2019t happened yet. Hopefully it happens soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joey Logano is no different from any other Team Penske driver in understanding the significance that the Indianapolis…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":94579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1406,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-94578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-nascar","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114920632086297268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}