Just days shy of his 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start, Joey Logano said he has no plans to hang up his driving helmet anytime soon.
Logano, who will reach his upcoming milestone on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway, talked on a Tuesday Zoom call with reporters about how long he will likely remain in the sport and when he’ll know it’s time to walk away.
When Does Joey Logano Intend On Retiring From NASCAR?
A winner of three NASCAR Cup Series championships, all since 2018, Joey Logano is arguably in the prime of his career. He is, however, 35 years old — about the age that drivers, at least privately, typically start pondering when they might want to step aside.
Has Logano given any thought to how long he will continue as driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford?
“I always say as long as I can win — I really feel like that’s the standard for me,” said Logano, the reigning series champ and a 37-time Cup Series race winner. “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.
“If I can win and be a help to my team, then I want to stick around.”
The married father of three recently confessed to feeling like he still has much to prove in the sport, despite his many accomplishments. Logano knows that at some point, though, success won’t come as easily as it has for him in the years since he joined NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Roger Penske’s organization in 2013.
“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,” Logano said.
POP THAT CHAMPAGNE! 🍾
Congrats to Joey Logano and Team Penske on winning the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship. pic.twitter.com/VVr2VS74sD
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 11, 2024
Reigning Champ Admits That Father Time Will Catch Up With Him
Despite owning just one victory in 2025, Joey Logano — a winner of two of the last three NASCAR Cup Series championships — is as competitive as ever. And no matter how the rest of the regular season goes, he’ll inevitably be one of the title favorites when the playoffs commence in September.
That’s because he is historically one of the Cup Series’ most clutch performers, which has especially been true the last few seasons. But Logano concedes that his skills behind the wheel will eventually start to deteriorate. And that’s when he believes he’ll be ready to move on.
“I don’t want to stick around and be one of those guys where people say, ‘Man, he went a few years too long,’” Logano said. “You don’t want to be that guy. I think whenever that happens, that happens, and 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?”
So, Logano is acknowledging that, at most, he probably has another 15 years left in him. But even if he ends up only racing another 10 years or so, retirement appears to still be well on the distant horizon.
“Something changes at some point, but, right now, I still feel as fresh as ever,” Logano said. “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.”
