Team Penske’s Joey Logano remains focused on competing for another Cup Series championship. He has no plans on retiring, but he has addressed a potential move to the booth.
Logano, who has spent a considerable amount of time making guest appearances in the FOX Sports booth, addressed the prospect ahead of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He explained that he really enjoys spending time in the booth and that the appearances provide drivers with an opportunity to determine if they would enjoy a full-time move after hanging up the helmet.
“I really enjoy it. That’s why I signed up for so many of them,” Logano said during a media availability, transcript courtesy of Ford Performance. “I have a good time up there. I feel like I learn a little bit. I feel like people actually see my real personality and not the one that’s on the racetrack, so I think that’s kind of a fun piece and enable to bring different thoughts and why drivers are doing certain things out there.
“It’s as fresh of a perspective as you can possibly get, getting drivers that just got off the racetrack and put them in the booth, so I think that part is pretty cool — that Fox does that.”
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The Extra Work Provides Better Perspective for Logano
GettyJoey Logano has embraced his time in the booth.
There are many reasons why Logano chooses to spend part of his weekends in the booth with FOX Sports host Adam Alexander and the other guest analysts. Showcasing a different side of his personality is important. He also uses the appearances to learn more about a different part of the race weekend.
The teams, drivers, and media partners have a symbiotic relationship. They need each other to exist. However, they don’t always see eye-to-eye. Jumping into the booth helps Logano see the conversation from a different perspective.
“I think the other piece to it that probably doesn’t get talked about as much is understanding TV’s perspective,” Logano added. “We’re all so easy to criticize certain things in our sport, whether it’s media, NASCAR, drivers, teams, whatever it may be – we’re easy to criticize, but we never understand the full story.
“So, I think understanding how TV works and how big the team is, how many players are in the game in different positions and for it all to work is incredible. It’s a huge challenge, but it’s fun to see it all come together and all we see is the final picture most of the time, so it’s cool to see the insides of it.”
Another Driver Embraces Broadcast Opportunities
Logano is not the only Cup Series champion to regularly appear in the FOX Sports booth. 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch also does so. Though he primarily spends his time calling Camping World Truck Series races.
Like Logano, Busch has a very specific reason for getting in the booth and calling the races. He uses the opportunities to entertain the viewers and provide some helpful pieces of information about each track on the schedule and the different strategies used by teams.
“For me, it’s giving back to a sport that’s given me so much to jump in there and to just entertain our current fans, to develop new fans, and to give it from my perspective,” Busch told Heavy in mid-April. “It’s been fun, and it’s a unique challenge as well.
“For the viewers listening, it’s to really define things that they might not have seen before and to learn about our sport, whether it’s a track or the car/truck,” Busch added. “To talk about the aerodynamics and the mechanical side of the car. There’s so many different categories.
“It’s endless. And it’s fun to get comments back on how people have enjoyed listening to me and watching me on TV and then not have too many drivers text me and complain that I was dogging them too hard.”
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Joey Logano Addresses Potential Broadcast Future