Logano says life different -- and the same -- since Daytona 500 win
Joey Logano will head to Daytona Beach this week in a position he's never been in before: The most recent Daytona 500 winner.
Now in his third year at Team Penske, the Connecticut native is proving that last year's success when he finished fourth in points was no fluke.
With the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season just two races short of halfway, Logano is third in points and has finished in the top five in the last three consecutive races. In 16 races, Logano already has amassed nine top-five finishes to just three for teammate Brad Keselowski.
In an exclusive interview Tuesday morning with FOXSports.com, Logano said that while the Daytona 500 victory in February was the biggest of his career, he's still the same guy he was before.
"It changed it in some ways and other ways it didn't, which I'm glad of," Logano said of the impact on his life from winning NASCAR's biggest race. "I'm busier now, which is probably the biggest way it's changed things. But as far as who I am, or the way my team works or the way people treat me, I don't think that's changed, really. That's kind of good that that hasn't changed."
Logano's Daytona 500 triumph was his first restrictor-plate win in 26 races and he said he's still working on improving his skills. "It's challenging," Logano said prior to shooting a television commercial for sponsors Autozone and Pennzoil at Statesville (N.C.) Regional Airport. "I felt like when we used to do the tandem stuff, I was better at that. I felt like I just had a good hold of knowing how to push guys for a long time. I had a good handle on that.
"As that went away and we went to the old pack style, it took a while to learn that, and communicate with my spotter and try for all of us to understand what we need to do on the race track," said Logano. "We're getting better at it. I don't think we're where we want to be yet, but we're probably a little bit better."
Logano said he expects Sunday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway to be a much different race than the Daytona 500 was.
"Everyone talks about the temperature in July vs. February, so the track will have less grip for sure, even at night," said Logano. "The track temp will be up from what was in February with the track soaking up heat all day long. We'll be sliding around a lot. I think you're going to have to bolt some grip into the cars. You've got to have speed there, obviously, to win, but late in the race, you're going to want to have some grip in your tires."
As good as the season's gone, Logano said his team still has work to do if he is to make a serious championship run again this year.
"I think we need more speed right now," Logano said. "As far as execution, we're better than what we were last year. We've got more top fives, more top 10s than where we were at this point last year. I feel like they're a little harder earned, though. I don't feel like we have the speed yet. So we're making the most out of every situation we've got, which is something to be proud of. The team's in great shape."
