Joey Logano candidly opens up on why he feels a “little bit like Dale Jr.” at his home track 

Joey Logano
Cup Series driver Joey Logano celebrates winning the pole position for the Mobil 1 301 with a member of his crew at New Hampshire Motor Speedway; (inset) NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. (via Imagn)

Joey Logano said he felt a little bit like Dale Earnhardt Jr. during his pre-race media session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Logano has a lot of haters, but at New Hampshire, the three-time Cup Series champion can rely on the support of his fans in and around Loudon.

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That’s because New Hampshire is Logano’s home track. It is also where he won his first NASCAR Cup Series race back in 2009, becoming the youngest driver to do so at just 19. He is a two-time winner at the track with a total of seven top-fives and five top-10s in 26 career starts.

“Although we do talk about the haters too much, there’s a lot of 22 fans out there and I’m happy to have every one of them,” Joey Logano said. “Like I said, though, it is neat when I do come to Loudon because I am representing, I feel like, everyone who lives around here. I feel like you’ve got to root for the hometown guy.” (1:00 onwards)
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“You gotta do that and it’s fun to enjoy that piece of it. It’s the only time I ever feel a little bit like Dale Jr. just a little bit. It’s super cool,” he laughed.
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Being the reigning series champion, Joey Logano has a shot at a back-to-back championship sweep this year. He sits 10th in the playoff picture with a two-point deficit on the cutoff line. But if he wins at New Hampshire, it will yield an automatic spot in the Round of 12.

The good news for Logano is that the Penske driver won the pole for the upcoming race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Starting alongside him on Row 1 will be Ryan Blaney, his teammate and driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang. Notably, Logano was the only driver who averaged 130 mph around New Hampshire’s oval.

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Joey Logano comments on Goodyear’s new tire compound for New Hampshire

Goodyear has developed a new tire compound for Sunday’s (September 21) playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Joey Logano wants to try it even though the new tire is said to have a higher fall-off rate.

Logano ran the new tires during a test session held earlier this year. Reflecting on the same, the driver said (via Steven Taranto on X, formerly Twitter),

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“I kind of was leaning like, hey, let's give it a shot. Pretty risky to do, especially in the playoffs, like if it doesn't work out, it could be a total fiasco…but yeah, there was a tire that you had to manage to make 40 laps.”
“It was pretty cool to see that Goodyear can build a tire like that and probably just be able to develop that a little bit more and build some more confidence in running something like that,” he added.
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Joey Logano will now prepare for the Mobil 1 301. Scheduled for September 21, the 301-lap race will be televised on the USA Network (2 pm ET) with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Anisha Chatterjee
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