Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano recently opened up about getting fired early in his career and why he now sees it as the best thing that could have happened to him. On “The Pure Athlete Podcast,” Logano shared how being let go by Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) gave him the motivation he needed to reach his full potential.

When Logano first arrived in NASCAR, people called him “Sliced Bread” because he was expected to make a major impact on the sport. But with that hype came immense pressure. After failing to meet those lofty expectations, Logano found himself without a ride when his contract ended, a devastating setback for a young driver who had dedicated his life to racing.

Joey Logano Turns Career Crisis Into Championship Success

“It was the hardest time in my life,” Logano admitted on the podcast when asked about being let go. He remembered thinking, “Am I gonna do this? Like, this is it? I was supposed to be the next Jeff Gordon; that was who I was supposed to be. Now I’m getting fired, and I don’t know if I’ll ever drive a race car again.”

Instead of giving up, Logano found motivation in the rejection. “You gotta use those moments as fuel, the fuel of fire. You gotta get angry,” he said.

He explained his emotional journey: “I think it’s fair to feel sad about it, I think that’s human, but I think you gotta find the anger too in there, or at least for me, I’m better angry.”

Everything changed when Logano joined Team Penske in 2013 (then Penske Racing). With his new team, he developed into a championship-caliber driver, winning titles in 2018, 2022, and 2024. Looking back, Logano now sees getting fired as a blessing. “I’m so grateful that I got fired. I’m so grateful I went through that hard time because it’s made me so much stronger,” he said.

He believes he needed that setback to become a champion. “I may not have ever won a championship if I came in with all the hype the whole time and I never had a hard time. I don’t think I would have ever won one of these trophies behind me.”

Interestingly, Logano noted that his performance actually improved at JGR right before his departure. “I actually started becoming successful at the very end, even though I was already fired. I started going, seeing some success.”

His journey proves that what seemed like a career-ending setback was actually the catalyst for his greatest achievements in NASCAR.