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News Article
Daytona 500 winner, Joey Logano, also an antique collector
By Eric C. Rodenberg

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Attention antique store owners: Don’t ignore the lanky 20-something-year-old, dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt, sauntering into your antique shop.

It could well be Joey Logano, winner of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 22. And Joey Logano has a lot of bread. After winning the race, he and Team Penske raked in $1.5 million.

Logano, once known as “Sliced Bread” (as in, the greatest thing since), took the lead on the 191st lap and didn’t look back.

But, even at the young and tender age of 24, Logano has had his ups and downs on the track circuit. Only two years ago, it appeared he was washed up in racing when he was cut from the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. But, Roger Penske snatched him up, and Logano rewarded “The Captain” with the owner’s second Daytona 500 title.

There’s a lot of stress driving in the Big League, according to Logano. There’s the thing about finding work. Then there’s the thing about winning races. And then, there’s the terror of coming out of the steep turns at Daytona and hurtling down the straight-aways at 200 miles an hour, three cars abreast.

Logano turns to antiquing to blow off the stress.

“It’s a real cool stress releaser,” Logano told AntiqueWeek a few days before his Daytona win. “It gives me time away from everything … and I always take it when it comes.”

The race car driver, as expected, collects mostly racing memorabilia, petroliana items and more “guy stuff.”

“I collect things for the ’cool-factor,’ ” he says. “I like doing the research, seeing what something is all about. I’m not interested in making money … at the same time, I’m not going to overpay. That’s why I study things.”

His wife, Brittany, whom he married in December, also collects – mostly jewelry and vintage kitchen items. The childhood sweethearts began making their antique junkets about two years ago.

“Yeah, that’s something we both do together,” Logano says. “We like the uniqueness of things … things you can’t find just anywhere. You go to Kmart and you see the same things, but I think it’s really cool to go to antique stores. You never know what you will see. That’s a big part of the cool-factor.”

That’s why – just hours before the first practices at Speedweeks in preparation for the Daytona 500 – Logano was to be found in Nicole’s Beach Street Mall along Daytona Beach’s old mercantile district, digging through NASCAR diecast cars, vintage Coca-Cola glasses and more.

Logano appears to be in his natural settings.

Much of the material he collects will end up in his 16,000-square-foot workshop at his home in Cornelius, N.C. There, the walls are covered with Goodyear, Shell and Ford signs.

“I have a bunch of old signs,” he says. “A lot of the things I collect are from my sponsors (such as Pennzoil, Shell and Ford). I also have fuel pumps, Coke machines and old cars. I will buy whatever pops up. I’m constantly looking at old cars. Right now, I’m looking for something like a 1933 or 1934 Ford. I’ll know it when I see it.”

Also in the workshop are cars. A 1959 Biarritz Cadillac currently reigns supreme. He has owned the white convertible with red interior for about four years now. It is a favorite ride of his and his new bride.

A 1972 four-wheel-drive Chevrolet Suburban sits in the workshop, in addition to a vintage Army truck, a hot rod and a 1961 Ford Econoline van (which he reportedly bought from a Charlotte Motor Speedway security guard for $2,500). He plans on renovating it with a pop-up tent and green shag carpeting.

Going into his seventh racing season, Logano has paid his dues. He is the youngest race winner, pole winner and Rookie of the Year winner in NASCAR history. Through last year, his sixth season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he has eight wins, 43 top-fives and eight pole positions. He has made “The Chase” (NASCAR’s playoffs) twice in the last two years, and he went into the final race last year with a chance to win, but ending up finishing fourth.

And, now Logano can add winning the Daytona 500 to his résumé.

“(It’s) about as cool as I thought it would feel,” Logano said. “I think as a kid, any young racer dreams of winning the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race we have all year. You’re down here for two weeks … You get out there, the first time you’ve raced in a couple months. There’s a lot of anxiety, a lot of nerves before the race.”

But, fortunately, Logano has his “antique hunts” to allay his nerves before racing.

And the NASCAR circuit widens his field of choices.

“We’re traveling every single week of the year,” he said. “That really gives me an opportunity to see a lot of unique things … I’m always looking to find more.”

3/2/2015
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