When Jimmie Johnson and Fernando Alonso swapped rides Monday in Bahrain, Joey Logano — like so many racing fans — took notice and marveled at what he saw.
But that’s about as far as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion’s imagination went.
In case you missed it, Alonso, a Formula One superstar (who just retired), and Johnson, one of the best drivers in NASCAR history, swapped rides and drove some laps around the Bahrain International Circuit. The cool event generated considerable chatter about whether the two racing legends one day could compete outside their respective comfort zones.
Alonso, of course, already has raced in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans — two-thirds of the motorsports Triple Crown. Johnson, meanwhile, has hinted at a possible move to the Verizon IndyCar Series once his contract with Hendrick Motorsports expires in 2020.
So, surely a driver as talented as Logano would want to try something similar, right? Team Penske does have a team in IndyCar, after all, and it wouldn’t be a shock if some of the group’s open-wheel pros tried to recruit Logano.
Well, let’s just say the Middletown, Conn., native isn’t going anywhere.
“Honestly, the conversation’s never gotten that far before, and they’ve never really tried, either,” Logano told NESN.com on Wednesday. “I love NASCAR racing. This is what I grew up wanting to do. As a kid, it was stock car racing — it was what I wanted to do.
“I’m living my dream, I don’t really wanna race anything else. I do enjoy watching other forms of motorsports … and I would love to try driving the cars. But right now, I’m just so focused in on one thing.”
Although Logano has zero interest in a one-off IndyCar event, he would like to try trading rides, if the right opportunity presented itself. The 28-year-old genuinely was fascinated by the Alonso-Johnson swap, which piqued the interests of motorsports enthusiasts across the globe.
“I love that, that’s one of my favorite things, to see the ride swaps go on,” Logano said. “It’s something I’d love to do some day, to drive different types of race cars. But I love racing what I race, I don’t think I want to race any other things.
“But just experiencing what other drivers go through … It’s always a fun conversation for me, to be able to talk to other drivers about how they handle the way their setups are, what they fight in racing situations. To me, it’s a lot of fun, because we have so much in common yet we have so little in common.”
A day may come when Logano changes his mind and considers venturing outside the comfy confines of stock-car racing. But for now, he’s committed to being a NASCAR lifer.
And, considering Logano’s just weeks removed from making his racing dreams come true, who could blame him?
