Joey Logano has finally gotten a driver’s license. Not the one to drive cars or race in NASCAR. He’s had those for years.
Friday morning, he went to Statesville, North Carolina and took the exam and is now the proud owner of a CDL, a commercial driver’s license, a sort of unusual thing for a champion NASCAR driver to have.
“So, I grew up around trucks,” Logano explained. “My father had a trucking company growing up, so I always drove trucks. I still like driving trucks all the time, but I need to do it legally, so I went to school.”
That school involved studying regulations and plenty of time behind the wheel of a semi-truck. All that led to Friday.
“This morning, we woke up and I drove up to Statesville and took my test up there at the DMV and I passed it, so that’s good,” Logano said. “I’m officially a CDL license holder, so I’m sure now that anytime we get in a bind I’m gonna be ready to truck.”
And while some drivers do drive themselves to races, Logano wants to be a bit different.
“I want to be the first one in a long time to drive their truck to the racetrack, so that would be kind of cool to do,” he said laughing.
“It was a bit of a process the last few weeks of going to school and learning and driving around on the road,” he added. “I had a lot of fun. It’s challenging to do it. It’s not the easiest thing in the world. I was nervous. I told the guy doing the test with me I said, ‘Listen, I drive in high-pressure situations every single weekend. You’re making me nervous.’ He’s over there and ‘every time I make a turn you’re writing something down.’ I said, ‘You’re wigging me out.’ We were laughing, but I was able to do it. I made the obstacle course and got it done.”
So next time you’re near a NASCAR track on a race weekend and see a big rig, you never know who might be behind the wheel.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.