“In My Childhood, I Had His Picture on My Wall”: F1 Champ Mario Andretti Leaves NASCAR Top Dog Joey Logano Gushing Over Career-Defining Moment

Joey Logano was on Cloud 9 on Thursday night as NASCAR awarded him his 2nd career title. The NASCAR Awards night happened in Nashville, Tennessee with all three national series champions being crowned. While Logano was happy about his championship, he was thrilled to receive the honor from IndyCar legend Mario Andretti.

Joey Logano sealed the 2022 NASCAR championship with 4 wins in the season. He clinched the title at the championship race in Phoenix. Winning with the No.22 Team Penske Ford, Logano was happy for his team and team owner Roger Penske.

Although he was the happiest to receive his award from IndyCar and F1 champion Mario Andretti. Logano mentioned how Andretti has been a role model to him and praised the legend for his career and personality.

Logano said, “He [Mario Andretti] has been such a great role model for me. Not only just a racer but a person. For so long. In my childhood, I had his picture on my wall.” 

The 32-year-old mentioned how he got the signed picture of Mario Andretti passed on from his grandfather.

He continued on Andretti, “Getting to know him over the years, we had a partnership together with MagnaFlow. I got to spend some time with him that way.”

Logano mentioned how it was a no-brainer for him to choose him as his presenter. He said, “It’s Mario Andretti like he’s the man. The fact that he knows my name is really cool. Forget going up there and introducing me as NASCAR champion.”

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Logano’s enthusiasm was evident as he received his 2nd NASCAR championship from his racing hero. Andretti’s career in motorsport as a whole, not just in IndyCar, has encouraged lots of drivers worldwide.

Mario Andretti – The American Hero of Motorsport

Mario Andretti has competed in several racing series across the world. While he started his career in stock car racing, he achieved his major milestones in the open-wheel racing categories of IndyCar and F1.

It was IndyCar where he established his name as a solid champion driver. Andretti won 4 IndyCar national championships in 1964, ’65, and ’69, and his last one in 1984. Andretti is also the all-time highest in pole positions, shared with Will Power (67) and the 2nd highest in all-time victories (52) on IndyCar.

In F1, Andretti used to race part-time for different teams until 1975. Although after that he raced full-time in F1 and put on championship challenges in 1977 and ’78. Andretti succeeded in becoming the F1 champion with 6 wins in the 1978 season driving for Lotus.

The ground-effect car designed by Colin Chapman was just a piece of solid machinery for the American to script history in F1. At the pinnacle of motorsports, Andretti, in total, bagged 18 pole positions and 12 wins.

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Being a racing legend in the US, Andretti certainly inspired Joey Logano as a role model. After an emotionally happy night, Logano would love to emulate his hero’s achievements.