Joey Logano Not Fazed By Chase Finish: ‘You’re Not A Loser ‘Til You Quit’

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Joey Logano remembers well how his quest for a 2015 Sprint Cup championship effectively came to an end, and most NASCAR fans do, too.

There’s no reason, then, to rehash the you-wreck-me, I-wreck-you exchange with Matt Kenseth that doomed both their title hopes. Still, the scent of their literal run-ins was all over the Daytona 500 Club at media day Tuesday, whenever Logano’s name was introduced without “defending champion” attached to it.

Despite finishing a distant fifth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings, though, Logano shrugged off suggestions that last season — as well as this coming season — should be considered a failure for ending with anything less than an overall points title.

“Last year, our goal was to win the championship and we fell short of it, but was it a disappointing season? No,” Logano said. “You can’t say a season like that’s disappointing. That’s a great season. Did we reach every goal? No, but we reached a lot of goals and a lot of new personal records that I’m proud of for our race team.

“But is it a failure? To me, you’re not a failure until you quit. You’re not a loser until you quit and we didn’t do that at all last year, and we’re not going to do that this year.”

It’s a heady time for the 25-year-old from Middletown, Connecticut. Although he’s yet to claim a championship, he’s started every Sprint Cup race since 2009 and has increased his number of wins each season since 2013. He even finished one spot ahead of Brad Keselowski, the former champ who essentially hand-picked Logano to join him on Team Penske, in the standings last season.