Welcome back to The Road Show with Tony Justice and Friends! Buckle up for this one — today's guest is a guy whose family reestablished my faith in mankind the day I met him at my own truck show. I'm joined by Tommy Logano, a Connecticut-raised, Charlotte-based truck collector and family man — dad to three-time NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, and a guy with a heart as big as his garage. Tommy grew up working his adoptive father's two-truck garbage route in Portland, Connecticut, built it into a hazardous and special waste hauling company, and sold out at 40 so the family could move to Charlotte and support Joey's racing career, first with Joe Gibbs Racing and now with Roger Penske.
Tommy and I talk about the wild shop of customized trucks he's built up over the years — including the '54 Peterbilt that went viral with 1.9 million views the first time I rode in it — and how a two-truck garbage route turned into a career hauling hazardous waste across the country. We get into what it's really like being Joey's dad: the foundation Joey built around foster care and second chances, the two foster kids Joey and his wife adopted, and what it means to watch your son be one of the most hated drivers on the track and one of the most generous men off it. We also swap stories about the ice rink Tommy built in Charlotte for daughter Danielle's figure skating career, life as "Grandpa" to seven grandkids, and Tommy doesn't hold back on what he thinks about today's ELD regulations.
TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE
- How Tony and Tommy met at the Large Cars and Guitars Truck Show, and how a real friendship grew from there
- Growing up adopted in a close, hardworking Italian family in Portland, Connecticut, and taking over his father's two-truck garbage route
- Building that route into a hazardous and special waste hauling business, and selling it at 40 to move the family to Charlotte, NC
- Joey Logano's path from quarter-midget racing to a three-time NASCAR Cup championship with Team Penske, and the foundation he built around foster care and second chances
- The '54 Peterbilt that went viral with 1.9 million views, and the shop full of customized trucks that followed — from a four-door cabover to a rat rod built out of an old manure spreader
- Building an ice rink in Charlotte for daughter Danielle's competitive figure skating career, now run day-to-day by Danielle and her husband
- Life as "Grandpa" to seven grandchildren, and why today's ELD regulations don't always make sense for drivers who knew the paper-log days
- Growing up around trucking and country music, and what it means to build something real with your own two hands
Big thanks to Tommy Logano for joining us and sharing his story, his family, and his passion for the road. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, follow, and leave us a review, and share The Road Show with Tony Justice and Friends with your fellow drivers and friends. Until next time, keep it safe out there and God bless!
GUEST LINKS
Joey Logano Foundation: https://joeyloganofoundation.com/
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