Joey Logano might not have won the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series championship, but he’s now a Guinness World Record holder. On Thursday, the 2018 champion organised the longest Hot Wheels track in the world in his Charlotte garage.
“Hot Wheels has been pushing the boundaries in car culture with it’s challenger spirit, outrageous design and [unparalleled] performance for over 51 years,” Hot Wheels senior director of brand marketing Ricardo Briceno said. “Joey Logano embodies that same spirit in his racing, which is why we’re thrilled to partner with him on this record-breaking track and special edition die-cast.”
At 1,941 feet and 7.18 inches (591.8 m), it featured long straights and sharp turns akin to multiple connected paperclips – perhaps a fitting metaphor as Martinsville Speedway is nicknamed “The Paperclip”; Logano won at the short track in 2018 during his title run and scored the pole in early 2019 – and went around his car collection. The car was also pushed along by 122 boosters. Eventually, the track ended inside a 2018 Ford Mustang, which sported a special paint scheme. The Mustang will be released in die-cast form in July 2020.
Among those in attendance was Kyle Petty, who drove the #44 Hot Wheels-sponsored car in the Cup Series from 1997 to 2000. From 2000 to 2002, Hot Wheels supported Petty Enterprises‘ Truck Series team by sponsoring the #43 of Carlos Contreras.
Although the company no longer produces NASCAR die-casts, they have sponsored various drivers since departing Petty’s team: their last Cup sponsorship came with Jeff Burton in a one-off in 2004, while they sponsored Danica Patrick and Josh Wise of JR Motorsports in the now-Xfinity Series in 2010. Their last primary sponsorship was in 2011 with Alex Tagliani, an effort led by Logano’s current Team Penske.
In 2019, Logano fell short of making the Championship Round as he finished fifth in points with two wins and twenty-one top-ten finishes.
“I have so many memories playing with my Hot Wheels cars as a kid, and it’s fun to jump back in that space with my son who shares the same passion for his Hot Wheels as I did,” Logano said. “Hot Wheels basically founded my passion for racing – the first car I ever had was a Hot Wheels car – and now being here, setting this world record with my son and an amazing team of Hot Wheels fans is a great way to announce our new special edition Ford Mustang.”
