Joey Logano isn't expecting a warm reception when he arrives at Martinsville Speedway for this Sunday's STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but the driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford isn't losing any sleep over it.
"I think that's one of those race tracks that will probably be fairly negative toward me," Logano said during a break in Tuesday's Goodyear tire test at Richmond International Raceway. "But you know, I guess over the years there are only certain people that know who I really am. I don't really take that stuff too personal. I know there's only one person who can judge me. So I don't get worried about it. To be honest with you, it motivates me. I'm kind of OK with it."
It will be the first Sprint Cup race at the 0.526-mile track since last fall's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup event, when Logano's day soured after he was taken out, while leading the race, by Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 2003 series champion Matt Kenseth.
Many fans on hand that day cheered as Kenseth drove his ailing Toyota into the left rear of Logano's Ford, pushing it up into the outside wall in Turn 1.
RELATED: Recap what happened at Martinsville last year
Kenseth had been spun out of the lead in a race at Kansas two weeks earlier after contact from Logano as the two battled for the lead. He was parked by NASCAR and eventually suspended for two races as a result of his actions at Martinsville.
Logano was unable to rebound from the incident, and failed to advance to the championship round as a result.
How he is greeted this week, Logano said, "doesn't bother me at all.
"I just want to go show them up," he said. "It gives you that motivation, you know. … Someone puts you down and you want to show them. It gives you that little extra fire to show people what's up. And I think that kind of gives me a little drive."
Asked if Logano has merely gotten a bad rap, Hamlin -- who had his own run-in with the 25-year-old -- joked "He's in the room, so (it's) a little difficult …"
"Careful what you say!" Logano quipped.
"My perfect 100 percent honest answer is Joey races really tough and really hard," Hamlin, who also races out of the JGR camp, said. "At times he's difficult to pass. A lot of times that pays off in the end … I think it just seems like sometimes there are coincidences. I've had probably the same thing happen to me -- somebody is pissed at me, then next week someone else was pissed at me.
"We all have our styles of driving. … You can't expect someone to convert the way that they drive to appease other people, because it's what's made them successful. It's hard for me to criticize the way anyone drives, even though it may not be the way that I do it."
Hamlin opened up the 2016 season with wins in the Sprint Unlimited non-points event, then capped off SpeedWeeks with his first Daytona 500 victory.
Logano, six times a winner last season, is sixth in points and searching for his first victory of the year.
"A lot of times when drivers put on helmets, their attitude changes," Logano said. "It becomes a competitive atmosphere. You're out here to win.
"Like Denny said, I race hard. I'm not going to disagree with that. That's what I've found works for me. I've tried it the other way and it didn't work. When you find something that works for you, you try to stick to that."
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