NASCAR CUP SERIES: DAYTONA 500

February 14, 2024

Joey Logano

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are going to roll right into our next media availability. We are joined by our Daytona 500 pole winner, Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

We'll take questions for Joey.

Q. I think the obvious: how big is this for Ford as a manufacturer, after basically a decade of the bowties kind of showing everybody the way on Wednesday night here in Daytona, for you guys to lock out the front row like this?

JOEY LOGANO: Yeah, it's about time, huh? It's a special, really special pole. This is something that as a team, this pole is talked about more than any other racetrack we go to.

A lot of it's because you eliminate the variable of the driver. I know I'm up here talking, I shouldn't be the one talking about it, because those guys are the ones that really gave me the race car I needed to go fast. They massage on it, work on it.

This is a very prideful pole to win for not just Team Penske and the 22 team, but for Ford and for Roush-Yates. When you see boat those Fords in Victory Lane, damn right you should beat your chest a little bit, something you should be very proud of.

I was a lucky jockey that was behind the wheel that got to drive that one today.

It's neat. Obviously really cool to start on the front row for the Daytona 500. Never done that before. Never been even close. So this is something really neat to be able to experience.

If you believe in momentum, I'd say over the last, the Clash running well, then here coming out of the gates fast here today, the momentum is building back up on the 22, which is nice.

Q. Years past you look at the pole, and it doesn't necessarily mean anything for Sunday because you can win from anywhere. Given some of the challenges we've seen with the Next Gen as far as passing and the draft, is this a case where perhaps qualifying up front does mean a little bit more again?

JOEY LOGANO: I think it helps on some things. When other drivers see that you have a fast car, I really think that speedway racing is all about reputation. If you have a fast car with a driver that understands the draft, cars will go with you more often. It makes you more confident to put this thing out in the wind. It's going to pull a lane. It's got the speed. You put it out front, it's going to tote the lane forward. That's what you want.

As a driver, it puts you in a pretty good spot, you know? When I got the team that I have behind me, with a spotter, Coleman, myself really understanding the draft well, our pit crew seems to be lights out right now in practice, things are looking really good.

We just have to go out there and execute our job at this point. We all know how to do that, but we've got a good bullet in the chamber right now to fire away and see what we got.

Q. You don't seem to be a guy who would like to kind of lay back and just protect your car. How do you approach tomorrow night?

JOEY LOGANO: Yeah, it was a two-second conversation in Victory Lane a minute ago with Paul. We're racing, right? Yeah. I said, Okay.

The good thing is Paul and I both have the same approach to speedway racing, where we're going racing. Something happens, it happens. It's not worth wrecking it, but you get the same attitude whether we qualify 5th or 15th. You don't want to go to your backup car no matter what you do.

I want to make sure our car is driving good. We have the new Dark Horse Mustang that goes fast by itself, but we want to make sure it's tuned right, get everything out of it.

We're going to go out there and be smart, but we're going to race 'em. There's a trophy and 10 points. We're going to race 'em.

Q. Given Doug Yates' power and your skill at this style of racing, you're not surprised that you've finally won the pole here, are you?

JOEY LOGANO: Considering it's my 16th try, my expectations weren't really high today (laughter).

But we've progressively gotten a little better at qualifying last year. It seems like with the Next Gen car, I guess there's a little less tricks and things like that that the other teams are able to do over the years that really put them up there. It seemed like that got a little closer.

I do think Roush-Yates' power thrives at speedway racing. That's probably their strongest point. Yeah, I would say this is kind of the wheelhouse. With the new body, we didn't really know. It's kind of like hope we got it right.

Obviously they had some speed here. And the field is so close, right? Everybody is kind of right there. Yeah, it's nice to do it. I was a little surprised, to answer your question. Once it started going to the second round, no one was really picking up a whole bunch, outside the 34, I thought, Man, we really do have a shot at this. This was cool.

Q. Your disappointment of last season has been well-documented. Going out in the first round of the Playoffs. You've said time and again. Did you kind of come into 2024 with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder? Do you feel like you've got something to prove, that you do deserve to be back on top?

JOEY LOGANO: We're a pretty tough team, an experienced team that's been around for a very long time at this point. I've been through kind of down points in my career before.

Doesn't make it hurt less when you're going through it. I also know that a lot of times, more times than not, when we have an off year, the next year's pretty damn strong. So I feel like we can do that again.

That just shows the mental toughness from our whole team, that we can continue to stick together. We didn't change anybody on our team this year from last year. I really think as a team we grow.

We got better and better towards the end of the year last year. Nobody sees that because you're not in the Playoffs, right? We were making gains, which is good. Then you have a moment where it ends, and the misery is over, you get a fresh start. That's where we're at now.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOEY LOGANO: That's what it's all about in life. Might be in my third or fourth chance, but it's working pretty good (laughter).

Q. Was Chevy's pole streak something that Ford talked about a lot?

JOEY LOGANO: I mean, the whole sport talks about it, right? I had the TV on before we went and qualified. That's what they're talking about on FOX. What was it, seven straight poles, seven years in a row, the 48 car was up there. Geez, man, some of those stats are unbelievable. I didn't realize all that was happening. I just got used to what it was, but I didn't think it was for that long.

Yeah, it was nice to be able to break their streak. It's something that it's an incredible run that they were on. Glad we finally caught up.

Q. Nine months going back to last May, Newgarden wins Indy, Blaney wins the Cup championship, you're on the pole for the Daytona 500. It feels like right now there's a lot of magic going on in that building. Is that something where you guys are feeding off some of the other parts of the organization, each gains momentum from the other, or one of those things?

JOEY LOGANO: There's not a cooler race team that you can work for when it comes to just motorsports in general. There's not another motorsports team in America that's decorated as much as Team Penske and what Roger Penske has done, whether it's in NASCAR, sports cars, INDYCARs. You name it, the guys been involved in all of it.

One thing that's in common with all of it is he wins. That's where I want to be because of that reason, right? The guy wins, he does it right, he's professional. There's no corners ever cut.

I think a lot of times we don't talk about it enough. Maybe because I'm inside the company, I see how incredible it is, but it is something that is truly spectacular when you look at the 58 years or so it's been, the accolades that have been produced in that place. It's bonkers.

This is actually one of the firsts here today. Roger Penske has never gotten a Daytona 500 pole. Not very often that you can actually do something for the first time for the captain. We were able to do that today which is especially. Don't get me wrong, it's really, really special.

It's an incredible place with great people, guys that all have the same mindset that they just want to win at all costs, want to win. We're also going to do it in a very professional way because we're representing somebody that is probably the most professional person you've ever met.

Q. Did you talk to him yet?

JOEY LOGANO: I talked to him in Victory Lane.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Joey.

JOEY LOGANO: Thanks, guys.