A second-generation Legend Car driver, Josh Lowe, recently competed in the Earnhardt Outdoors Showdown, but he’s also making a name for himself at Wake County Speedway as he fine tunes his racing skills. He’s working on capturing his first victory of 2024, with a long-term goal of winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Hometown: Trinity, NC
Division: Semi-Pro
Car Number: 23
Team: Josh Lowe Racing
1. How did you get your start in racing?
I got my start in racing by my dad used to race Legend Cars back in 2015 and 2017. I used to go down to Wake County and Concord and watch him race which really got me interested in the Bandoleros and Legend Car series. Right around 2019, 2020 I really got interested so we decided to go look at a car and ran my first race in a Bandolero at Wade County.
2. What has your racing journey been like?
My first season I got a lot of podiums. I surprised myself and was really proud of myself that first season because we made a lot of progress. My second season I was running for the track championship at Wake County Speedway and I won the championship. Another accomplishment from that season was I finished second in my first ever race down at Summer Shootout. My third season (2023) was my first season in Legend cars. I got four wins and another second-place finish down at Summer Shootout. This year has been kind of difficult. I’ve had a lot of support from my sponsors and family which has really helped me get through this season with all my setbacks.
3. How did you come up with your car number?
My dad’s number was originally 22. I’m not really sure where he got that from, but that’s been his number my whole life. He had to change it to number 23 because there was another 22 at the track and 23 is also his birthday, so whenever I got into racing I copied his number and it’s been that number ever since.
4. What does your pre-race routine look like?
I don’t really have much of a pre-race routine. I just try to get focused with what I need to do and just try to do the best that I can and try to make the least amount of mistakes that I can.
5. What does it mean to you to have your family to involved in your racing career?
It means a lot. Not everyone has their family so involved. With not being on a big team, being a family-originated team really helps bring us together and I think in some cases we’re stronger than some of those big teams. It really makes me proud that we are able to compete with the big teams while being a small family team.
6. What is your favorite track that you have raced at?
My favorite track that I’ve raced at probably has to be Citrus County Speedway. I went down there for the past two Winter National races. It’s a really fun and fast-paced, but it’s also a driver’s track, and those are the type of tracks I really like. That and probably Florence Motor Speedway in South Carolina. I really like that track as well. It’s very driver enduring and very fun since there’s not much tracks like it.
7. If you had to pick one motorsports event in the world to win, what would it be?
I would say to win the Coke 600 because this is my home NASCAR track. I know if I were to ever race in the Coke 600, I would have a lot of people from my hometown come down here and it would be really special to win in front of all of them and to win at the place I used to race at.
8. What are your goals for the rest of this year?
I’m going to try to get some wins and good finishes. I haven’t gotten a win yet this year, I’ve had some bad luck. Really just focused on getting strong finishes.
9. What are your long-term racing career goals?
I plan to get into a Late Model soon with the help of my sponsor, CSI of Tampa. Hopefully, I can keep going up the ranks until I make it into NASCAR. If I don’t make it into NASCAR, I’d want to stick in the Late Model ranks for a while and become a very good driver there or go over into the dirt scene.
10. If you had to pursue a career outside of motorsports, what would it be?
One of my biggest dreams besides racing is to have my own construction company building houses and commercial buildings.
11. What challenges and motivates you in racing?
The biggest thing that challenges me is the amount of focus and determination you have to have to even be able to compete with the other drivers because even here at the Summer Shootout, it’s such a high level that if you make a mistake you go to the back. That and keeping myself contained and not making any mistakes with my driving and to be a respectful and clean driver.
12. What has been your biggest learning moment in your racing career?
Whenever I first start to become fast and compete at the front of the field. It changed a lot from being around drivers that didn’t really know what was going on and wasn’t going to race you very hard to being doored, pinched down, or any other aggressive move being done on me I had to adapt to. Especially in Legend Cars being hit out of the way, you have to adapt to that to get away from it and even be able to do it myself sometimes to not get beat up out there and stand up for myself.
13. What was like to get the opportunity to race on the streets of Downtown Kannapolis in the Earnhardt Outdoors Showdown?
It was a really fun event. We had a lot of big names in Daniel Hemric, Noah Gragson, and Lawless Alan. It was really special, I haven’t done anything like that before. I have never raced on any type of streets before or any type of track like that, the closest thing would probably be here at Charlotte. The fans came out and supported everybody and it was really cool time to meet Kerry (Earnhardt) and was fun to be a part of.
14. What is your favorite memory of your racing career?
My favorite memory of my racing career was probably when I won the 2022 Wake County track championship in the Bandolero. I had my family from Florida, my mom and dad, and some of my friends there as well. It was a surreal moment. I battled for that track championship all season and at first, I didn’t think I was going to get it since I hadn’t had much luck, but I prevailed and I was able to build a pretty good lead by the end of the season. To have everyone there, to win the race and track championship at the end of the season was a very special moment.
15. How does driving a Legend Car prepare you for driving something like a Late Model?
I think it will prepare me a lot. Legend Cars are very difficult but they’re a very good learning tool to step up into a Late Model or anything of that nature. Most drivers who get into Late Models after Legend Cars do really good, even Bandoleros, so I think I will do good whenever I get into a Late Model and I’ll be prepared more than some people and the Legend Car will have a lot to do with that.