List of NASCAR drivers to win the ESPY awards amid Joey Logano’s nomination

NASCAR is the leading racing series with the most ESPY Best Driver Awards won in history, beating Formula 1 and the IndyCar Series. This year, Joey Logano has been nominated and earned the chance to join the greats in such a prestigious category.

The ESPY Best Driver Award recognizes the top motorsports athlete who made a significant impact last season. Logano, driver of the #22 Team Penske Ford and defending Cup Series champion, is joined by IndyCar's Alex Palou and F1's Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen on this year's nomination list.

If the three-time Cup Series champion wins the award, he will join a long list of NASCAR drivers who championed stock car racing on the global stage for the first time in his career. The winner will be announced at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on July 16.

“Joey Logano has been nominated for the 2025 ESPYS Best Driver Award,” Jayski reported on X.

Leading the category are the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, winning four a piece. Both have earned at least four NASCAR championships, with Johnson bringing home seven, the most in NASCAR history. Only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. are the other series drivers to win seven titles.

Joey Logano's former on-track rival, Tony Stewart, won the ESPY Best Driver Award three times. Stewart had four championships, three as a driver and one as a team owner with Kevin Harvick in 2014. Moreover, he famously swapped seats with Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren F1 car at Watkins Glen in 2011, marking a significant moment in motorsports.

Here's the full list of NASCAR drivers who have won the ESPY Best Driver Award:

1. Jeff Gordon - four (1996, 1998, 1999, 2007)
2. Jimmie Johnson - four (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
3. Tony Stewart - three (2003, 2006, 2012)
4. Kyle Busch - one (2016)
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - one (2004)
6. Kevin Harvick - one (2015)
7. Dale Jarrett - one (2000)
8. Bobby Labonte - one (2001)
9. Martin Truex Jr. - one (2018)

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Joey Logano calls NASCAR the “most exciting motorsports” in the world

Joey Logano recently called NASCAR the most exciting series in the world, citing close finishes and playoff racing. The defending Cup Series champion argued that the changes the sanctioning body has made produced more thrilling racing, which he would put up against anything.

In an episode of Rubbin' is Racing, the #22 Team Penske driver said:

“The racing is better today than it's ever been. Period, hands-down. I don't care. What you say after that.” [0:09]

While the inaugural Mexico City race witnessed Shane van Gisbergen winning with a 16-second margin, Logano believes that was the norm. For the most part, the 35-year-old said the current format creates close racing, which is enough for him to assert NASCAR is the best in the world.

“Now, we've added things, whether it's a car, whether it's the stage racing, whether it's the playoffs. I think we've added ways to make NASCAR racing the most exciting motorsport in the world, hands-down. I'd put that up against anything,” he concluded. [0:35]

After winning at Texas Motor Speedway in May, Joey Logano is bound for the playoffs to try and defend his championship. He currently ranks 10th in the points standings with one win, two top-5s, and four top-10s.

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Edited by Rupesh