LOUDON, N.H. _ Many NASCAR drivers live in or near Charlotte, N.C., so this week's protests in uptown have gotten their attention.
"There's an emotional reaction," Joey Logano said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "A lot of times you see things like this and it's in a different city and you don't recognize where it's at. When you see the NASCAR (headquarters) building getting vandalized and you see areas of the city that you know very well that are getting vandalized, it makes you sick to your gut. All we can do is say prayers and hope everything calms down and everybody is able to come to some kind of peace at the end of this thing"
Said Matt Kenseth: "You just hope it stops. I think we're very fortunate to live in a free country and peaceful protest and demonstrations are OK. Certainly the violence and vandalism isn't a way to prove a point or try to make things better. Hopefully we'll get it right and go from there."
Logano said he is comfortable talking about issues such as the unrest in Charlotte and that it comes with the territory of his high-profile job.
"I think any athlete or public figure takes on a responsibility when he sits down and talks with (the media)," Logano said. "I know the influence that I can have on young eyes that are watching us that are very fragile and could go a lot of different ways."
Logano's Joey Logano Foundation made a $10,000 contribution Friday to the Manchester (N.H.) Police Athletic League. That, Logano said, is the best way for him to give back and make a statement.
"I don't honestly believe in a lot of other ways that other athletes are doing it right now," he said.
