Joey Logano Wants You to Know Just How Painful a NASCAR Crash Truly Is

If any NASCAR watchers are skeptical about how much crashes can hurt, they should speak with Joey Logano.NASCAR has made numerous safety improvements over the years to prevent tragic deaths or severe injuries. Crashes still happen on a regular basis, and there are some ugly collisions, but it’s been over 20 years since the sport’s last fatality.

Still, let’s let Logano explain the physical and mental toll that crashes can have on drivers.

Joey Logano is in his 14th season at the Cup Series level, and he’s certainly no stranger to crashes.It seems fair to call Logano an expert, then. In fact, Logano was asked in a recent interview with The Athletic what it feels like to crash during a NASCAR race.

“Well, it sucks,” Logano replied. “I can tell you that much. It either hurts you or hurts your ego — or both.”

Logano then provided some serious analysis about the ins and outs of a car crash in NASCAR.

“It happens so fast that it’s usually typically over before you’re able to put it all together. You’re just hoping not to get hit too hard. The worst ones are the ones you see coming for a while — like when you blow a right front and you have two seconds to think about it before you plow into the wall.”

If a college offered a course on car accidents, Logano should apply to be the professor. Those who are squeamish may want to avoid taking such a class, though.

Logano has had some bad crashes over the years

Joey Logano has more than enough experience from crashing his car in NASCAR races.

Logano had a nasty wreck in 2009 when his car rolled over seven times in a six-car accident at the AAA 400. Somehow, Logano — in his first series at the Cup Series level — walked away unscathed.

Logano was among the 19 drivers involved in a massive accident at the 2020 Daytona 500. With 16 laps to go, Logano pushed Aric Almirola down the backstretch.

Almirola bumped into Brad Keselowski, who was hit with so much momentum and force that he caused a pileup.

Logano and Keselowski were involved in their own accident at the 2021 Daytona 500. Keselowski mistakenly forced Logano to spin during the final lap, which forced the latter to fall out of first place.

Michael McDowell passed Logano and won the race.