NASCAR champion Joey Logano set to hit important milestone at Dover

Penske star Joey Logano will hit a major career milestone this weekend as he makes his 600th start in the NASCAR Cup Series at Dover Motor Speedway

Logano stepped up to the Cup Series in 2009 with Joe Gibbs Racing and has been a staple of the grid ever since, with 2024 marking his third title in the championship.

Although he first joined NASCAR’s premier national series with JGR, it was his move to Team Penske in 2013 that propelled him to his current stardom.

Logano hasn’t had the best season so far, having made just one trip to the victory lane in the opening 20 rounds.

But the Connecticut native is relishing the chance to celebrate a personal landmark at the "Monster Mile."

“Iconic weekend with being able to hit that 600th start,” he said. “That’s a pretty special one as well, so it’s a busy week for sure – a short one because we’ll be traveling a lot, but it’s all good.”

Asked how he is processing his emotions going into the weekend, he added: “I guess in two different ways. At first glance, I said, ‘Well, it just starts.’

“But then, when you start thinking about it, to be able to be around in a sport as an athlete competing at a top level for 16-plus years, and hitting 600 starts, it’s pretty incredible to have a career that long. It’s something that I take some pride in. I’m proud of that, to be able to hit this marker.

“It’s a lot of starts. I remember my 300th start, and I think it was [Matt] Kenseth at the time, maybe it was [Martin] Truex as well, that weren’t too far from 600 and I thought, ‘Geez, that’s double the amount of races as me. That’s crazy.’ But here I am, so it went by pretty quick.

“It’s been a heck of a ride. This sport has been awesome to me and my family and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

At 35 years of age, Logano is in no mood to slow down and hang up his helmet.

The Penske driver clarified that retirement is out of the question until he still feels competitive and can fight near the sharp end of the pack.

However, as soon as he feels he has lost the edge, he would throw in the towel instead of hanging around in NASCAR.

“I always say as long as I can win [I won’t be retiring],” he said. “I really feel like that’s the standard for me. I love racing, but I really love winning a lot more.

“If I can go race other things and win, I’ll go and do that, but my dream has always been to be a NASCAR driver, be a NASCAR champion and if I can win and be a help to my team, then I want to stick around.

“As soon as I feel like I’m a drag on the team and I’m not bringing anything to the table anymore, whether that’s on the racetrack or off the racetrack, that’s when I need to get out of the way at that point.

“I want to see Roger Penske and his race team and the people that are there be successful. I care about them a lot, so I want to be a way to contribute to that. That’s what I want out of myself.

“If I was Roger Penske, I would expect that out of an employee, especially for as long as I’ve been there. That, to me, is gonna be the deciding factor when that is. I don’t want to stick around and be one of those guys where people say, ‘Man, he went a few years too long.’ You don’t want to be that guy.

“I think whenever that happens, that happens. I don’t know when that is. I would be an idiot to think you can be competing at the top level into your fifties. What athlete has ever done that?

“Something changes at some point, but, right now, I still feel as fresh as ever. I feel as sharp as ever. I’m driven as much as ever.

“I still care. I still get emotional about things, so that shows me I care a lot. With those factors still there when the end is, I don’t know yet. I don’t know.”