Joey Logano Jul 28, 2018; Long Pond, PA, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano signs an autograph for a fan during qualifying for the Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

NASCAR drivers are some of the most accessible athletes to their fans. They can’t be accessible all the time on a race weekend, but they do what they can to sign autographs and take pics with their fans.

Joey Logano revealed an instance where, as an eight-year-old boy, his favorite driver snubbed him when seeking an autograph. That left an impression on the future champion as he now tries to sign for kids no matter what. Even if Logano is late to something.

Logano was on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, and after some nudging by the hosts to reveal the driver, Logano revealed it was Tony Stewart.

“I can think of the few times that I get to meet my childhood heroes as a kid,” Logano said. “And I met Jeff Gordon. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. There’s another driver that I was a big fan of that did not say hello to me. Walked right past me. And I was a kid, and I was so upset that I threw all my stuff in the garbage. That is burnt into my mind, from an eight year old kid, forever. It is there. So now every time I see a kid, I’m like, ‘I gotta stop.’ Even if I’m late. I’m like, ‘I gotta stop, right?’

“If you’re an adult and I’m late, ‘Sorry bud, I gotta go.’ But if it’s a kid, it’s just so in my head that, at that moment that I was so upset and I don’t want no other kid to feel that way.

“I was a Tony Stewart fan. Okay, it was Tony. And I’m not saying Tony’s not nice to his fans and I’m pretty sure, he was, it was after practice. He was walking from the garage to his bus in Atlanta. And it has that little area where fans kind of can stack up there, and he must have not had a good practice. He looked mad. But I was there with my Tony Stewart gear and I was excited and I wanted to meet him. And I ran up with my stuff like, ‘Can you sign my stuff?’ And he just kind of kept walking.

“I know Tony now, and yeah we may have had our run-ins together, but I think he’s a good person. So don’t take this and say, because I get it too. Because there’s a lot of times that I get out of the race car and you’re just mad and angry and frustrated and then there’s people all over. You wanna go back and figure out why we’re not good right now.

“But that moment changed me as an adult forever, and so that’s why it’s in my head.”

It’s somewhat ironic that it was Stewart given that Logano took over Stewart’s #20 car in addition to their many run-ins over the years, but that’s how it goes.

That’s a tough situation for a NASCAR driver to be in. A driver could sign 99 autographs but if they’re unable to sign that 100th, they have an enemy for life. Like Logano said, Stewart may not have had a good practice session and was mad that day. We all have those kinds of days, and it doesn’t reflect who we are as people. Though when you have one chance to meet your favorite driver, and your favorite driver ignores you, it’s understandable to feel hurt by that.

I can’t say this is the same situation, but I remember being a kid and Jeff Gordon not signing an autograph for me. In fairness, I didn’t blame Gordon, and instead blamed the “adult” who put their program over mine to get his autograph, but Logano is right. Those experiences stick with you for life.

In Logano’s case, if he doesn’t sign for an adult, hopefully they understand that he might need to be elsewhere. But kids aren’t expected to have that understanding and Logano knows that, so he’s willing to do what he can to make children happy and make them lifetime fans of his.

[Sirius XM NASCAR]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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