Joey Logano joins ThorSport for Bristol Dirt

Joey Logano typically does not race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but when he does, it’s to compete on dirt. On Tuesday, Logano announced he will return to the series for the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway on 8 April, driving for ThorSport Racing.

Logano’s 2022 Cup Series championship campaign featured a brief detour when he entered the Truck Series’ Bristol Dirt event for David Gilliland Racing, who opened a new #54 truck for him with which he finished sixth. It was his first Truck start since winning at Martinsville in 2015, and he only had six career Truck entries prior to the victory.

With DGR now a Toyota team known as TRICON Garage, ThorSport became the main Ford Truck team, ironically making their own switch from Toyota. ThorSport fields four full-time trucks while the #66 that Logano is expected to pilot only has nine other starts planned for NASCAR newcomer Conner Jones starting at Martinsville the week after Bristol.

Bristol is the only dirt race that the Cup Series will visit, meaning the Truck event has been used as extra practice. Consequently, a Cup driver (Martin Truex Jr.) won the inaugural edition in 2021 while the 2022 race saw Logano compete against Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott. Cup regular William Byron will race alongside Logano in 2023.

Meanwhile, Logano’s title defence has seen him win at Atlanta and record two more top tens across the first six races to sit third in points.