Joey Logano Exposes the Real Reason for His Early Cup Struggles

Team Penske Racing veteran Joey Logano explained the reasons for his early career struggle with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series.

Joey Logano Exposes the Real Reason for His Early Cup Struggles

Joey Logano (via Imago)

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The reigning NASCAR cup Series champion Joey Logano made his Cup Series debut when he was just 18-year-old, giving him the iconic nickname sliced bread. He got his full-season debut in 2009, and he spend three underwhelming years with Joe Gibbs Racing that made some to give him an overrated youngster tag, resulting in exit from the Toyota team in 2011.

Joey Logano was signed by Team Penske Racing in 2012, and after a tough debut season, in 2013 he proved his worth by starting to win races. In the 13 years since has won three Bill France Cup and over 35 races. In a recent interview ahead of the Gateway 2025 Cup playoff race he tried to explain what went wrong early in his career.

The No:22 Ford Mustang driver admitted that the lack of maturity was the real reason for his struggles in the elite division. Though he wasn’t making mistakes and was focussed on making his team better, the then young Logano failed to be a leader as well an assertive racer, which is a significant need for any championship craving athlete.

I feel like probably some of my maturity level held me back a little bit…Not that I was out there doing dumb things. I was very focused in on what I was doing, but I didn’t lead my team as good as I felt like I should have. I wasn’t assertive enough.

Joey Logano said via Speedway Media.

Furthermore, the racer pointed out that the reason for the lack of leadership qualities he showed was his low confidence. Back then his JGR team wasn’t built to have a rookie racer like him, as they suited more for a Logano that has more experience in the sport as he is now. With the right people he would have had a career much different career, maybe still with the TRD team.

I wasn’t confident enough to do that, and I feel like that, over time, kind of set me back a little bit to start. That team that I started with would have been great at this time of my career, but as a rookie, it was not. You just have to have the right people at the right times around you.

Joey Logano added.

Joey Logano makes honest admission about his social media activity during playoffs

In the same interview, Joey Logano was asked about how much time he spend on social media during playoffs, considering he is getting a lot of heat over his take on the championship format. He admitted that he is less active than many expects him to be as his life is busy around his family and other non-racing responsibilities he has.

Joey Logano (via Imagn)
Joey Logano (via IMAGO)

To be honest with you, I can’t say I’m on social media that often. Three kids at home. I’ve got a very busy life. I’ve got a lot of different jobs going on.

Joey Logano said.

He also doesn’t find his social media experience really intriguing owing to the fact that there is a lot of uneducated opinions being shared on the internet about the sport. Logano sees it as a complete waste of time and always looks into ways to use his time productively.

I don’t really mess with it much and there’s a lot of opinions that are uneducated on there a lot of times – not all the time, but a lot of times.  I know what I have to focus on because I’m in it, I’m doing it every day, so I make sure I focus on that. I’ve found over the years that social media is a complete waste of time and so I try to not be on it.

Joey Logano added.

It’s a great mindset and it can be credited as one of the many reasons for his long peak as well as success in the sport. Logano has lot left to offer the sport and it would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for him.

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