NASCAR News: Joey Logano pushes back after Stephen A. Smith's controversial comments

Team Penske star Joey Logano has pushed back on controversial comments made by blockbuster TV personality Stephen A. Smith regarding NASCAR drivers.

Smith recently made noise in the NASCAR community after he claimed that the sport's drivers were not athletes on his SiriusXM Radio show, with golfers having been put in the same category.

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"You can be behind the wheel of a car in your 60s and 70s for crying out loud," part of Smith's comments read. "A golfer is not an athlete. A NASCAR driver is not an athlete."

Naturally, many drivers have not taken too kindly to this. On Saturday at Talladega, RFK Racing star Ryan Preece said, "I'd love for him to go tumbling 13 times, have black eyes, and show up next week doing what you gotta do," referring to his own crash at Daytona International Speedway in 2023, and now, Logano has responded too.

Joey Logano responds to Stephen A. Smith

Speaking to the Frontstretch at the track in Alabama, Logano was quizzed on whether or not he had seen Smith’s comments, and he had the perfect response.

“Yeah, I wasn't surprised,” Logano said. “He’s said it before.

“Listen, I think people like that have to make comments to stay relevant and that's like part of their game. They gotta make big moments and things so people watch.

“So he got exactly what he wanted. He got you [the media] talking about it, the whole industry talking about it, now he's relevant."

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Logano: NASCAR drivers are athletes

Logano continued, dismissing Smith's argument: “I don't put much weight into it personally because he's never driven a race car. I mean, I personally believe that we're athletes.

“The mental aspect is important, obviously, the physical piece is very challenging inside the race car that not many people can understand. So I don't think I need to defend it personally.

“I think it's just the way for people like that to stay keeping a job.”