It was the evening after the Roval heartbreak, when an upset Joey Logano was virtually knocked out of the Round of 8 and was consoling himself by saying to be a good loser and move on. But a call from team owner Roger Penske changed everything.

Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy had failed post-race inspection, where he fell short of the minimum 3,400-pound weight limit of his car, which eliminated him from the playoffs. Logano, who’d finished eighth but missed the cut by points, suddenly slipped into the Round of 8. But what made it unforgettable was a deeper, emotional story in the company of a young fan named Liam, just seven years old and fighting cancer.

The night a little fighter’s smile set Logano’s heart ablaze

Logano had wanted to meet him for some time, and when his wife spotted Liam’s family at the track on social media, they invited them over to their house. But one moment struck Logano like he never saw it coming. When his son and Liam were playing together, Logano’s life felt bigger than the track.

“The backstory to that’s a little kid whose name is Liam, and he was battling cancer. I wanted to meet him for a long time and I didn’t realise he was at the racetrack. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we’ll call him up.’

“Liam came over, he’s seven or eight years old same age is my son. And so they were playing, having a good old time, and so we were just, we were honestly playing Nerf Wars through the house.”

Logano later shared with a soft tone reminiscing that moment, that the innocent energy of Liam and the laughter of children made Logano forget all his worries and quietly fueled the comeback. From there, Logano’s team gelled, turning playoff underdogs into champions, proving how one heartfelt moment can rewrite the script.

And in the end, Logano stated in a soothing voice, remembering that night with Liam, “He was a great kid.”

But Logano’s comeback in 2024 stings Alex Bowman the most. And Bowman, reflecting months later on that incident, owned the tough luck without bitterness.

“It wasn’t anything that I had any control over,” Bowman said. “There was nothing anybody could do about it. It would have been nice to not have that happen, obviously. I hate that we gave them that opportunity, but we did, and they obviously capitalized on it and did what they needed to do,” he told the Associated Press.

Logano’s drive didn’t stop at the checkered flag; it carried into handling the noise off-track too.

Logano’s armor against the crowd’s boos

Fans love to boo Joey Logano, especially after titles that feel too “lucky” to some. His 2024 run drew extra heat, especially after the DQ drama that painted him as a beneficiary, not a battler. But Logano stays unfazed, drawing a clear line between race-day aggression and real life.

“I understand that they’re booing the person that’s driving the car, not the person that’s out of the car,” he explained recently.

This mindset lets him race hard without letting cheers or jeers define him. Growing up in racing, Logano learned early that boos often chase winners who bend rules just enough to thrive. He filters out strangers’ takes, leaning only on family and close crew for real feedback. That filter kept him sharp through 2024’s playoff grind too.

“I’m okay with that. Like, that’s fine. To be honest with you, if you don’t like what I do on the racetrack, I don’t care, right? I don’t care. Because my job on the racetrack is not to make people like me. My job is to win. That’s what I get paid to do. So, if you don’t like that, I don’t care.”

Simple and straight talk like that underscores his focus. After three titles, Logano’s not chasing popularity; he’s chasing wins. He’s built a wall around his focus and filters out all the non-beneficial talk, turning fan fire into fuel for the next green flag.