When Joey Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champion who grew up in Middletown, made his annual charity event in Connecticut include a golf tournament a few years back, he encountered problem: he didn’t golf.
So Logano, a natural on the race track since he was 6, found a way to get comfortable on the fairways.
“I drive the golf cart around and give everyone a hard time all day,” Logano said. “I have a lot of fun with it.”
On Thursday, Logano was once again enjoying his time with family and friends as he helped support causes important to him.
Before heading to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Overton’s 301, Logano, 27, hosted his foundation’s fundraiser “Driving Hope Home” with golf at Southington Country Club and dinner and auction at the Aqua Turf Club.
“It has a huge part in my heart, obviously,” Logano said. “We’re able to work with organizations like The Connection and The Ronald McDonald House, which are such great causes.”
Logano’s foundation has raised millions for various causes, including military families in need and children with illnesses. But this year’s event helped support The Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut and Middletown-based The Connection and their foster care program.
Logano said the foundation is helping to furnish a new home that was built by the Ronald McDonald House.
“Everyone is just so generous here,” Logano said. “It is incredible to be part of it. I’m proud to try and help put this together and give back to our community here in Connecticut.”
Logano started the event as a go-kart race in 2014. But he discovered he had to make an adjustment.
“We started with a go-kart tournament and the go-kart races were great and I had a lot fun with them, but it wasn’t big enough — we had too many people,” Logano said. “We went with golf and I can’t golf. But I have fun with it.”
After becoming a successful Sprint Cup racer, Logano, who won his first Eastern Grand National Championship in the junior stock car division when he was 7, knew wanted to give back.
“This community has given so much to me so we want to give back to it,” Logano said. “It is just the right thing to give back and really help the kids out.”
The event also provided him with a chance to recharge around familiar faces. Before heading out on the course, he met with friends and even signed a copy of The Courant from 1997 when his name first appeared in an article about young racers when he was 7.
Hugo DelRosso, an old friend of Logano’s father from South Windsor, brought the 20-year-old newspaper.
“Seeing that everyone has committed their time to this thing is just incredible to me — it is amazing to see it,” Logano said. “I’m proud to be part of it and trying to help where I can. We have a lot of friends and family that want to help out and give this great cause. It is a lot of fun for us.”
Logano is 12th in the Sprint Cup standings with 10 top-10 finishes. In April, he won at Richmond, but NASCAR later called it an “encumbered” win and denied Logano an automatic playoff berth because his car had a rear suspension issue.
With two previous wins in New Hampshire, Logano is considered a contender to get that automatic playoff berth this weekend with a victory.
“Every time I leave here, I get amped up,” Logano said about his brief visit. “I get fired up because things go well and there is so much energy.”
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