Is Joey Logano a HOF Driver?

The Hall of Fame is held as an exclusive spot for drivers that have separated themselves with their talent. As Joey Logano won his second championship and earned his 31st career win, his hall of fame eligibility was called into question.

Watching Joey Logano over the years, it’s hard to think that his career could be even considered to be in the same ranks as some of the greats. Logano sticks out in being one of the most consistent drivers throughout the field each season, but never really dominating. His best season, 2015, was capped at 6 wins and a potentially ruined championship run after being wrecked by Matt Kenseth at Martinsville.

Logano’s first championship season was dominated by “The Big 3” of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. After a controversial Martinsville win, Logano was deemed the least likely to win at Homestead, but he defied the odds. Similar things can be said about this season. After winning at Vegas, Logano was locked into the final race first and even so, he was not considered the favorite by many. After Bell won to make it in, Chastain’s daring Martinsville move, and Elliott’s dominant regular season, Logano was an easy overlook.

How can someone be regarded as an all time great if they spend their entire career as an underdog? Well, looking beyond the thoughts of him at the time and simply looking at career resumes, Logano has a solid case. Both Labonte brothers are in the hall of fame and, to me, have resumes very similar to Logano.

Let’s first look at Terry Labonte. Terry has 2 championships, 22 wins, 182 top 5’s and 361 top 10’s in 890 races. The most wins Terry had in a season was 3 which he accomplished twice in ‘94 and ‘95. In nearly 400 less races, Logano has 9 more wins, only 33 less top 5’s, 104 less top 10’s, as well as a better peak season. It’s not unrealistic to say that Logano is very likely to surpass Terry in all of the stats by the end of his career.

Some may argue that Terry wasn’t the better of the Labonte’s so let’s look at Bobby. In 729 races, Bobby accomplished a championship, 21 wins, 115 top 5’s, 203 top 10’s and a season best of 5 wins. Logano has Bobby Labonte beat in all of these statistics in his shorter career.

While from the surface Logano’s career doesn’t seem like much to boast about, compared to some other drivers that are regarded as one of the best of their time and are in the hall of fame, Logano is very worthy of being in the Hall of Fame even if he decided to retire today.