Reflective Joey Logano contrasts his path to NASCAR greatness with LeBron James and Bryce Harper prodigy success stories

Joey Logano reflected on his early career in the NASCAR Cup Series, discussing the highs and lows he went through during the initial years. He stated that he couldn't keep up with the expectations that were attached to him.

Logano was just 19 when he made his full-time Cup Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2009 (Sprint) Cup Series season. His win in New Hampshire that season earned him the accolade of the youngest race winner in the Cup Series, a record that he still holds. He was expected to dominate the field in the coming years, however, his performance seemingly went downhill after the first season.

Recently, Marty Smith questioned Logano about the expectations that people had after his debut. Smith also compared him to greats from other sports like LeBron James and Bryce Harper, who were prodigies in their respective fields.

However, Joey Logano feels his career trajectory was different. Drawing a comparison to Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, Logano mentioned that he did not deliver quite as early as the former did.

"Kyle Larson showed up with all this hype, and he performed immediately. I did not quite do that," Logano said (0:59 onwards). "I showed up with all the hype and then shit. And then this is like, you know, like I didn't really perform at the level I needed to, to the point where I lost my job, and that was probably the hardest point for me."

While he did manage to deliver some exceptional performances, Joey Logano was finishing out of the top 20 in his early years with JGR more often than not. The team parted ways with him at the end of the 2012 season, and he joined Penske Racing (now Team Penske). He has raced with them since.

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Joey Logano feels he needed "humble pies" to improve his racing

The 34-year-old claimed that he was over-confident with his performance early in his career, believing that he was naturally talented and didn't feel the need to practice to improve his overall performance.

"I believed that so much that I didn't work at anything. I just was like, 'Yeah, I'm good, I'm naturally talented. I'm fine.' And it hurt me in so many ways, from the way I handled a lot of situations, from the way I prepared. I needed a slice of humble pie, right? Like, I needed to get kicked down into the dirt a couple times."

Joey Logano stated that it was the difficult moments in his career that helped him to grow the most as a competitive racer. He improved significantly in the later stages of his career and won his first Cup Series championship in the 2018 season, followed by another two victories in 2022 and 2024.

He has been performing consistently this year, however, mostly within the top 20. He did manage to win in Texas earlier, confirming his seat into the playoffs.