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Logano All Smiles Day After Winning The Daytona 500

Joey Logano beams as he leans against the Daytona 500 winner’s trophy. [Joe Jennings Photo]

Daytona Beach, Fla. – Joey Logano continued to support his trademark winning smile a day after racing to victory in NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500. The youthful driver returned to the speedway around sunrise to begin a whirlwind series of media stops prior to next weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race in Atlanta.

His first stop was at the Daytona International Speedway’s Tickets and Tour Office (previously known as Daytona USA) to meet with a large turnout of media, to be toasted at a winner’s breakfast and to see his winning car, the Shell Pennzoil Ford, inducted into the hall of fame.

Joining Logano was team owner Roger Penske, crew chief Todd Gordon and the crew of the winning team.

“Daytona is one of those race tracks where anything can happen,” Logano commented at the breakfast gathering. “A lot of times you know who has a fast race car and who you will be racing for the win, but at Daytona everyone has a shot at winning, so it is unsettling. Limiting mistakes while running in the pack was important. Every time I could I made a move I did, but making smart moves was also important and you have to keep working hard to stay up there. It was fun but mentally draining.”

About the win, he added, “It is hard to put it into words what it feels like to win the Daytona 500. There are a lot of race drivers that have never won the race. You work your whole career to get to the point that you even have a chance to win. Just to start the Daytona 500 is special.”

Regardless, he did it and is looking forward to the upcoming travel and the numerous interviews ahead, plus he will be a guest on the nationally televised David Letterman Show.

Two months ago Logano didn’t have a lot of confidence heading into Daytona but once present and seeing how well his car was performing, the young driver’s perspective changed to an extremely positive one.

“Although it may not be the right thing to do, I did think about winning the night before the race,” Logano said. “It is hard not to think about winning when you know how big of a race this is. During the red flag, I was sitting there in the lead with a green-white-checker coming and trying to say to myself, ‘This is just another race but then I thought this is not just another race. This is the Daytona 500.’ There is so much on line when you come here.”

Team owner Penske liked Logano’s attitude going into the race, saying, “Joey said he was going to race all day and in the end, I think that’s what made the difference. “ Even though Penske has won 15 Indianapolis 500s and now two Daytona 500s, he doesn’t put one ahead of the other. “Yesterday was the one I like the most at the moment. You can never sit back as we have such a commitment to our sponsors to execute, and also to our 48,000 employees. I have a lot of pressure to deal with and you lose more than you win, and that makes me a better person.”

Over the years, Penske has witnessed many winning races, and given the evolution of stock-car racing, he believes this win with its intense competition made it very special. But the highly successful owner and businessman said you can’t compare eth Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. “It is not fair to compare the two, as they are both special. Every time you get in that winner’s circle at Indy is special. Yesterday, we had the top people from Ford and Shell Pennzoil here; you couldn’t set a better stage for the win, so I would put the two races side by side. If we win Indy this year, I may say something different. My next goal is to win Indy and the Brickyard (400), so we will see what happens.

In winning, Logano has qualified for the 2015 Chase but the Daytona 500 winner says he’s not going to back-off, “It will not change the way I race. My job is to win races. As a team we want to keep our momentum going.”

And he will be carrying the Daytona 500 winning smile wherever he goes for a long time to come, if not forever. Logano is a proven winner.

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