CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joey Logano was the guest of honor as NASCAR celebrated its season Friday night at the Charlotte Convention Center. It was the first time the banquet has been held in Charlotte during the sport’s modern era.
Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano began the afternoon celebrating his third title with the iconic Goodyear Gold Car given to each year’s champion and was later feted by the sport at the tuxedo-and-gown banquet.
The 34-year-old’s three titles in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford are now the most among all active drivers, and he is one of only 10 competitors in the history of the sport to have ever earned a trio of championship trophies.
Logano thanked his team and team owner Roger Penske, and the father of three gave a special nod to his wife Brittany, who he praised for taking care of their young family and home — allowing him to maintain championship focus. He thanked his family, who was also in the audience, “remembering when I was a kid and got a go-kart for Christmas and now I’m sitting here a three-time Cup champion, it’s just truly incredible.”
“To me, we did get a lot of opportunities, and life’s really all about what you do with the opportunities, you don’t know when they are going to come your way, but are you ready to take advantage when they do,” continued Logano.
Logano, whose four wins in 2024 gave him 36 total, was noticeably sentimental, reflecting on his career and season’s accomplishments.
Logano’s team owner, NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Penske, has now earned five NASCAR Cup Series championships, including the last three consecutively between Logano (2022 and 2024) and Ryan Blaney (2023).
“From my perspective, Joey Logano was a winner when he came to our team in 2013,” Penske said in his remarks on stage, adding, “We’re so proud of all our teams. Racing is a common thread through our businesses. It’s teamwork. It’s pressure. It’s integrity. It’s transparency. And this has built the Penske brand. And we’re thrilled to be here.”
Beyond the Logano-Penske dominance, it was a night of emphasizing highlights across all NASCAR series — those in supporting roles in the pits and beyond.
The Xfinity Series and its first-time champion, popular veteran JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, along with Craftsman Truck Series first-time champion Ty Majeski and his ThorSport Racing team, were celebrated.
Allgaier’s team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was visibly excited to honor his longtime driver.
“I’m normally not this kind of person, but I knew we were going to win it. I’m normally the kind of person who thinks about the odds and wonders how we might lose a race or what are the obstacles in front of us,” Earnhardt said. “But for some reason, I just felt like the universe owed Justin, and we were going to collect when we got to Phoenix.”
“Man did he get up on the wheel, all those restarts, those were classic, classic moments and if you just watched that seven-car work all night long you could see how bad Justin wanted it,” Earnhardt continued. “He carried the whole company on his back that night. Just proud of him and so thankful to be able to see Justin celebrate this tonight.”
The sport also celebrated Earnhardt’s good friend, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 Cup Series champion, who retired from full-time competition at the end of the 2024 season and also marked the distinction earned by a former Team Penske champion as well in Brad Keselowski, who claimed his first victory (at Darlington Raceway) as a driver-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.