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Joey Logano has essentially the same thoughts about last year’s drama with Matt Kenseth as the driver of the No. 20 car does: No regrets and let’s move on.
“I can’t speak for anyone else. I feel like there’s only one person who can judge me, and it’s no one standing across from me right now,” Logano said, indicating the throng of reporters surrounding him during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour on Wednesday. I know there are some things I need to work on as a person, and I try to work on that every day.
Patience is not one of Logano’s virtues, he admits, saying he’s really eager to get back into the race car at Daytona. But he’s not apologizing for his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup win at Kansas, where he spun leader Kenseth in the closing laps, or how he handled himself the rest of the 2015 season.
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Logano said he and teammate Brad Keselowski are both passionate, competitive drivers, and nothing about that is going to change. He wants to win another Sprint Cup title for Roger Penske, and Team Penske‘s 50th anniversary year would be a great time for that. And just maybe duking it out with Kenseth during the 2015 Chase can help Logano as a competitor.
“People are drawn to the negative side, but there are a lot of positives,” Logano said. “Maybe as a positive thinker, that’s how I get through life, but I want to look at the positives like ‘where did I grow from this whole thing, internally as a person or externally as what we do as a race team and how we gained a lot of fans through this whole thing?'”
“I’m proud of how we handled everything, and the way my fans supported me is greatly appreciated.”
Kenseth, too, said his fans had weighed in heavily during the offseason.
“I’ve got to be honest. I’ve had more fan support in the last three months than I’ve ever had in my life,” Kenseth said Tuesday during JGR’s media tour availability. “But this isn’t a popularity contest, it’s about winning.”
Logano said one aspect of the feud — and fans’ reactions to it — was amusing. When he went to Talladega Superspeedway the week after Kansas and received a rousing chorus of boos from the crowd, he said it reminded him of Jeff Gordon‘s usual reception at the Alabama track. “Hey, at least I have one thing in common with Jeff Gordon!”