At 18, when he reached big-time auto racing, the kid from Connecticut was often called “Sliced Bread.” As in … “he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
BY AL PEARCE, Autoweek, photo by JAMES GILBERT, GETTY IMAGES
Now, as a 64-time winner over NASCAR’s top three series and a two-time Cup Series champion, “Sliced” is also known as one of the sport’s 75 Greatest Drivers. On Tuesday, Joey Logano, of Middletown, Connecticut, became the 73rd driver so honored, leaving only (almost certainly) Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson to be named later this week.
Logano has been a consistent winner since his Cup, Xfinity Series, and Craftsman Truck Series debuts in 2008. Still young at 33, he already has 32 victories in Cup, 30 in Xfinity, and two (in only nine starts) in the Truck Series. All told, he has 66 poles, 252 top-5 finishes, 412 top-10 finishes, and 64 points victories in 764 starts across NASCAR’s top three series.
He spent parts of his first five Cup seasons in Toyotas at Joe Gibbs Racing before moving to Fords at Team Penske in 2013. The most recent of his 32 victories was two months ago in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It marked the 15th season he’s won at least once in Cup, his 13th season in a row.
Logano’s Cup resume with Gibbs and Penske is Hall of Fame worthy: 579 combined starts, 28 poles, 32 victories, 152 top-5 finishes, and 263 top-10 finishes. He won Cup championships for Penske in 2018 and 2022, and has been top-10 in final points nine times in 14 full seasons. Most of his victories—all but two—have come with Penske.
His breakthrough victory with JGR was in the rain at Loudon, N.H. in June of 2009. He was just 19 years, one month, and four days at the time, making him the youngest winner in Cup history. The year before, at 18 years and 21 days at Kentucky Speedway, he became (and remains) the youngest Xfinity Series winner.
Among Logano’s other notable Cup victories: the 2015 Daytona 500, plus three times each at Kansas, Las Vegas, Michigan, Phoenix, and Talladega. He’s won twice each at Bristol, (plus one on the Bristol dirt), Loudon, and Richmond, and once each at Atlanta, Charlotte, Darlington, Fort Worth, St. Louis, Homestead, Martinsville, Pocono, and Watkins Glen.
He will be honored at this weekend’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington along with the other drivers (or their representatives) named as NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers. He’s the eighth active full-schedule driver on the list, joining Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick.
NASCAR’S 50 Greatest Drivers
SELECTED IN 1998
Bobby Allison
Davey Allison
Buck Baker
Buddy Baker
Geoff Bodine
Neil Bonnett
Red Byron
Jerry Cook
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Earnhardt
Bill Elliott
Richie Evans
Red Farmer
Tim Flock
A.J. Foyt
Harry Gant
Jeff Gordon
Ray Hendrick
Jack Ingram
Ernie Irvan
Bobby Isaac
Dale Jarrett
Ned Jarrett
Junior Johnson
Alan Kulwicki
Terry Labonte
Fred Lorenzen
Tiny Lund
Mark Martin
Hershel McGriff
Cotton Owens
Marvin Panch
Benny Parsons
David Pearson
Lee Petty
Richard Petty
Tim Richmond
Fireball Roberts
Ricky Rudd
Marshall Teague
Herb Thomas
Curtis Turner
Rusty Wallace
Darrell Waltrip
Joe Weatherly
Bob Welborn
Rex White
Glen Wood
Cale Yarborough
LeeRoy Yarbrough
The Next 25
SELECTED IN 2023
(No particular order)
51, Tony Stewart
52, Kasey Kahne
53, Mike Stefanik
54, Randy Lajoie
55, Kyle Larson
56, Greg Biffle
57, Sterling Marlin
58, Ryan Newman
59, Chase Elliott
60, Carl Edwards
61, Ron Hornaday
62, Jeff Burton
63, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
64, Bobby Labonte
65, Martin Truex Jr.
66, Brad Keselowski
67, Larry Phillips
68, Sammy Ard
69, Kurt Busch
70, Kyle Busch
71, Greg Biffle
72, Kevin Harvick
73, Joey Logano
74, TBA
75, TBA
