By Jerry Jordan, Editor
WASHINGTON D.C. – Since age seven, Joey Logano had always wanted to be a racecar driver and those dreams naturally led to his desire to become a NASCAR champion but nowhere in his consciousness did he realize that achieving that goal would put him at the side of one of the most powerful men in the world and behind-the-scenes at America’s most iconic residence.
“Today it is my pleasure to welcome the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano and Team Penske to The White House,” said President Donald Trump, as the official ceremony got underway. “Team Penske raced across the line in a Ford Fusion parked right here on The White House south drive, and that is one beautiful car, I guess, Roger (Penske, team owner) that is something very special. It went a little faster than the other ones but it also had to do with your right foot, I think.”
After a whirlwind tour of Washington DC that included a trip to the U.S. Capitol and other sites, Logano and his Team Penske crew met with President Trump, sat in the Oval Office, took a tour of The White House, including the Lincoln Bedroom. It was something he was still trying to wrap his head around as the day came to a close.
“I have had a great time,” Logano said, outside the West Wing of the White House, to a gathering of national media and a few “recognizable faces” from the NASCAR press corps, who cover the action at the racetrack each week. “I see some recognizable faces, that’s nice. What did you guys think, you having a good time, so far? It is amazing to see your racecar sitting in front of The White House and the tours we through today, it’s been just an incredible experience to learn about our country and what makes it tick and meeting a lot of our leaders has been eye-opening for me. So, I am very grateful for the opportunity. Heck, not everyone gets the opportunity to even be standing where we are standing, right now. And to be able to go through Lincoln’s bedroom a minute ago and have a tour led by our President through there, I don’t think that happens very often, so that was a really special day for us.”
For Logano, meeting President Trump and walking with him through The White House wasn’t completely unfamiliar. He said the similarities come from President Trump’s go-go-go attitude and he didn’t slow down much. Of course, Logano also didn’t know much about slowing down in 2018 as he was racing to the finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim the championship that would land him where he was experiencing one of the greatest moments of his racing career.
“It’s kind of like when you’re going with him, you are just trying to keep up,” Logano said. “He’s got a little Roger Penske in him where he is just moving all the time. And if he’s not here, he’s there, and there and moving and it’s hard to keep up with him. He’s a busy man. SO, it was fun to just kind of see who he is and how he was able to take the time for us. I think that was probably the most surprising piece for me was the amount of time he took with all of us as a team to congratulate us and to really show his expressions he was able to make for us winning the championship and his relationship with Roger and for all that, it was a lot of fun for me to witness and be a part of.”
“No, no, for me, I am a racecar driver,” Logano said, when asked by Kickin’ the Tires if he ever saw himself standing South Lawn, walking through the Presidential Rose Garden or touring the Lincoln Bedroom and The Oval Office. “I never thought that I’d be anywhere near politics in anyway and to be here, and like I said, to learn the history of it, is something I will remember for the rest of my life. You know, honestly, like you said, I never thought that this would be part of it, right. You jump in a racecar and your goal is to go out there and win the race. A lot of times, you don’t think of the things that come along with it. When we strapped in for that race in Miami the goal is to win the championship. There was no thought of what comes along with winning a championship and I have been made very aware of some of the awesome, incredible pieces that come along with winning a championship and I think this one probably takes the cake. This is probably the coolest one of them all.”
Logano explained the logistics of actually pulling off the visit have been in the works for several months and that he also put a lot of thought into the gifts that he presented to the President – a mini-replica of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Trophy and a race-worn helmet he used during the playoffs that listed all of the charities the Joey Logano Foundation helped as part of its Chasing Second Chances program. They were both special but for Logano, the helmet meant the most even if President Trump didn’t try it on.
“He did not try the helmet on. He might later on, who knows,” Logano said. “I wouldn’t want him to screw up the hair. You know, you’ve gotta make sure, you get helmet hair, I know the feeling.”
Somewhat overtaken with the magnitude of the sights and surrounds of the day, the always humble Logano was not at a loss for words when describing what the experience meant to him and why he chose the gifts he did – putting himself behind military who serve the nation but don’t get to experience the things he does as a NASCAR champion.
“There were a lot of different ideas thrown around as a gift to give to our President and, you know, we wanted it to be something special. And I feel like, for me, some of the coolest pieces that athletes have is there helmet. They’re painted in a very unique way and it is something where we don’t have many helmets. I probably wear three or four helmets in a year and to have one from the championship season, I thought, that would be maybe one of the coolest gifts you could give somebody. I know I would appreciate it even if I wasn’t a fan. I would really appreciate what that meant. Like I said, it is all really about our country and, yes, I gave that to the President but I, kind of, feel like I gave it to the country more than anything. And for our military and everybody who has fought for our freedom, like I said up there on-stage, earlier, if it wasn’t for that we don’t get to do what we love. It’s that simple and I know it sounds cliché and you’ve probably heard it a million times but it is so true. There’s a lot bigger champions out there than me. I am just a lucky one that gets to do things like this but there’s champions fighting for our freedom everyday that don’t get to do this like we do, so a lot of times I feel like this isn’t fair in any way and maybe, I am not worthy of it, but it is definitely something I will remember and the least we could do is bring a helmet and say, ‘Thank you.’”