Joey Logano hits a major milestone this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway as he suits up for Cup Series start No. 600. He will hit this mark at the age of 35, which is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
Yet, he has no plans on calling it quits anytime soon.
"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 and if I can win and be a help to my team, then I want to stick around," Logano told media members ahead of the Dover weekend.
"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 at that point."
Statistically, Logano is not in the midst of a wildly successful season as he prepares for start No. 600. He has one win, which put him in the playoffs, but his average finish is only 17.2.
He only has five top-10 finishes through 20 races, putting him on pace for nine overall after becoming the 34th driver to make 600 starts. This would be his fewest since the 2011 season when he was a youngster driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Logano still sits 11th in the Cup Series standings despite having fewer top-10 finishes multiple drivers below him. The reason is that he has 95 stage points and two stage wins. He has run well early in many races but has just fallen short of the finishes he is accustomed to.
Of course, a quiet regular season is nothing out of the ordinary for Logano, a three-time Cup Series champion. After all, he struggled during the regular season in 2024, only winning a chaotic race at Nashville Superspeedway in five overtimes.
This slow start didn't matter once the playoffs began. Logano won the Round of 16 opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the championship race at Phoenix Raceway. This streak sealed his third Cup title.
As long as Logano and the No. 22 team can still flip that switch once the playoffs begin, the expectation is that the Connecticut native will continue to suit up for Cup Series races. As he said, he continues to be driven by the goal of winning championships.
Once he is no longer competitive, however, he will call it a career. Logano is not someone who wants to run outside the top 20.
"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. 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?
"Something changes at some point, but, right now, I still feel as fresh as ever. 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."