Joey Logano on the Brutal Reality of NASCAR Racing

After a long period of frustration in the 2024 Cup Series season, Team Penske superstar Joey Logano finally reached the victory lane on Sunday. He emerged as the winner after a grueling race at Nashville that had five overtime restarts added to it. Taking part in the emotional celebrations at the victory lane was Logano’s two-year-old daughter, Emilia, and the rest of his family

Talking to the press later about the experience of celebrating with them, he revealed that it was the first time he had them all at a track during a race win. His eldest son, Hudson, had been at the victory lane on prior occasions, but for Emilia and his second son, Jameson, it was a first. Continuing, Logano noted how much the ordeal meant to him and spoke about the hard demands of the sport.

He said, “The commitment — you guys [the press] know because you guys travel, as well, but the commitment that it takes to be a professional athlete, the time it takes away from your family. We talked about the stress that you try to shut off when you come home, but you really can’t all the time. Some of it goes through your mind a lot.”

Helping the driver coast through this stress by managing things at home is his wife, Brittany Baca. He added, “It’s a grind for everybody. More times than not, my wife is raising those kids, three of them, on her own. It’s just the life that we have. It’s like that for everybody that’s traveling out here.” Childhood sweethearts, Logano and Baca, have been married since 2014.

The pressure that he is under is why getting to celebrate with his family meant so much to him. Notably, the journey of the Loganos hasn’t always been smooth. Baca had to undergo in-vitro fertilization treatments to conceive Hudson and Jameson. The difficulties led them to believe that they wouldn’t be having a third child. But then, Emilia showed up.

Baca recalled, “We always said, if God blesses us with one more, that would be fantastic. Really, we never thought it would happen. But then, here came Emilia.” For all that they’ve gone through and braved successfully, the Loganos deserve to celebrate – without holds – every victory that they get.