AVONDALE, Ariz. — Not long after Joey Logano crossed the finish line to win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship, his 4-year-old son, Hudson, was by his side, ready to celebrate and helping the No. 22 Team Penske Ford driver collect his checkered flag.
But Logano had a special plan for Hudson in the celebratory mayhem — a plan he’d been thinking about since Kevin Harvick won at Michigan International Speedway back in 2019.
“Ever since Kevin took Keelan in Michigan for a ride in the car, I said, ‘I want to do that,” Logano said after winning his second Cup championship. “Like, I always wanted to do that just because, I don’t know, it’s cool.”
So after the father-son duo collected the checkered flag, Hudson climbed into the seatless passenger side of the No. 22 car for some “gentle donuts together” before a quick ride around the one-mile track. Kyle Busch did the same thing with his son after his 2019 championship win.
Our hearts. 🥺@joeylogano celebrated the championship with his son, Hudson. #TeamJL 🏁 pic.twitter.com/zDDavg4EKt
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 6, 2022
Hudson was an infant when Logano won his first championship in 2018, so this one is extra special for the pair.
Logano continued during his post-race press conference:
“I always dreamed of winning with him here because I always wanted to take him for a ride. We’d go for rides in hot rods all the time together, and it’s definitely not the first donuts we’ve done together. But the first time in a race car, well — on the race track. It’s the first time on a race track that we got to do donuts together.
“That’s just cool, to see him running up there, grabbing the checkered flag, it’s hard to explain. If you have kids, you understand the love that you have for them — it’s truly unconditional love. To see him smiling and celebrate the moment together, it’s truly the most awesome feeling.
“And the fact that we can talk about it, right? The first time I won it, he was like nine-months-old. He didn’t know which way was up, could barely hold his head up. Now, to see him running up there and grabbing the flag and going for a ride with me, couldn’t have picked a better race to do that for the first time.
Logano also said he promised Hudson he’d win, and “I couldn’t be a liar to my son.”
His other two kids — 2-year-old Jameson and 9-month-old Emilia — didn’t make the trip out to Arizona. He said he and his wife, Brittany, tried to get Jameson on West Coast time since they knew two weeks before the title race that the No. 22 team would be in contention.
“Turns out Jameson wakes up at 5:00 a.m. no matter what time you put him to sleep,” Logano said. “You can put him to bed at 10 or 6:30; he wakes up at 5 a.m. He’s a machine. We said, ‘You know what? You’re staying, bud. Love you.'”
"I never been truly this ready for a championship race and we did it."@joeylogano was all smiles after winning the @NASCAR Cup Series Championship. pic.twitter.com/2HAmcEYYSA
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 6, 2022
But he did give them both a shoutout after his victory.
“Daddy will be home soon, but we’re going to party a little bit first.”
