And just like that, we've got a response. After Stephen A. Smith stirred things up by saying NASCAR drivers aren't athletes, Joey Logano didn't exactly take the bait.
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Instead, he kind of shrugged it off... and took a subtle shot in the process.
"People like that have to make comments to stay relevant," Logano said. "That's part of their game. They gotta make big moments so people watch."
Translation. This is what Stephen A. does. And honestly, Logano's not wrong there.
Smith's original rant came during a SiriusXM segment about LeBron James and longevity. A caller brought up Richard Petty, and Smith basically hit the brakes on that idea immediately. Then he went a step further, lumping in golfers too.
To him, driving a car or walking a course doesn't qualify as "athletic." It's skill. It's elite skill. But not athleticism.
Cue the reaction. Logano, though, didn't seem all that interested in arguing definitions.
"I don't put much weight into it," he said. "He's never driven a race car."
Fair point. Logano did push back a little, pointing to the mental grind and the physical demands inside the car. The heat. The endurance. The focus. Stuff that doesn't always show up on TV.
But mostly, he just... didn't care.
"I've done this long enough," Logano added. "I don't care."
That might be the funniest part of all this. Stephen A. got exactly what he wanted. Attention. Debate. Clips flying everywhere.
And the biggest name to respond basically said, yeah, I see what you're doing... and I'm not losing sleep over it.
