Team Penske’s Joey Logano has been a key figure in USA Network’s “Race For the Championship” docuseries. He has used the series to provide a look at his life while simultaneously gathering notes about his competitors.
Logano talked about this new perspective ahead of his trip to Phoenix Raceway for the Cup Series championship race. He told Heavy that he has enjoyed the experience of filming multiple episodes. Though he doesn’t always see where certain scenes will fit in.
#RaceForTheChampionship will see you next week for the big season finale! 🏁
“The best part for me has been being able to watch the final product,” Logano said. “And when you’re filming things, you’re like, ‘I don’t know that you can really use this, or I don’t know, I’m just living life, so whatever. Here it is, guys.’
“But to see the final product on TV and watching how all that goes down, I’ve enjoyed watching that — not just my own cars but watching my competitors and how they prepare for races, how they live their lives away from the racetrack. As similar as we all are because we have the same job, we all do it so differently. Like there’s not much that we really do the same.”
Logano Focuses on 1 Specific Storyline
GettyJoey Logano has taken notes on his competitors.
There are many reasons why people watch “Race For the Championship.” Some viewers want to see home life and how the different drivers prepare for their unique jobs. Others want to see what goes into building a race-winning car.
Logano falls into the latter category. He said that he’s not overly interested in the different moments that show the drivers at home. He’s glad they are in the show, but it’s not what he focuses on.
The parts that really make Logano want to tune in are those that highlight the work at the shop. He likes to see the pit crew practice, the competition meetings, and everything that is hidden “behind the curtain.”
“That’s probably been the biggest thing to me that I’ve kind of learned, like what their meetings and structure is like,” Logano continued. “Obviously, we’re not going to be okay with saying all the little details of how we made our race car fast, and they’re not going to be either. But just the little things that you see throughout the meeting and how their pit practices are.
“There’s been a few times that I wrote down some notes and went to work the next day and said, ‘Hey, here’s what these guys are doing. Did you watch the show last night?’ I did that. So I would expect [that] others do probably a similar thing. Like I said, it’s just pulling the curtain back a little bit, taking a little peek. But it’s not. It’s not full-on like, here’s what we’re doing on everything. But it definitely is enough to get my interest for sure.”
Logano Will Take Over 1 More Episode
There have been nine episodes in the first season of “Race For the Championship.” They have covered the regular season, the playoffs, Kyle Busch’s contract situation, and the safety concerns surrounding the Next Gen car.
The season finale will air on November 3, and it will provide a look at the most important round of the playoffs. The trips to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway will take center stage, which means that Logano will play another big role.
The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang kicked off the Round of Eight by winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This locked up a spot in the championship four and put Logano in a position where he could focus on preparing for the trip to Arizona instead of worrying about points in Florida or Virginia.
Logano’s win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will likely be an important part of the season finale. However, there will be other moments dedicated to Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, and other drivers considering that they became bigger stories during this round while Logano simply got to focus on the future.
“You know, having the few weeks that we’ve had since Vegas to be able to focus in on the details, the little things, they really stack up, right,” Logano said. “Like the little things of how we want to set up the car, little things that are gonna matter — how we want to run pit road or pit stalls we need to have.
“We’ve had these meetings — meeting after meeting — of going over all these things to make sure that we are fully prepared when we get there. Because we’ve earned that advantage by winning, right? We’ve had that opportunity to do that while other competitors are out there trying to get their way through the Round of Eight to get to the championship four. We’ve been just focused on Phoenix.”
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Joey Logano ‘Pulls Back the Curtain’ With Docuseries [EXCLUSIVE]