After stepping out of his Legends race car last year while he was the reigning Masters world champion, Phil Joy is doing what a lot of retired drivers do.

He’s climbing back into the cockpit. Only, now he’s focused on having fun, not scoring victories and points.

Joy finished second twice last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, coming in behind the current Legends champion, Kirk Hall.

Hall is the rival who kept Joy challenged in 2012, when the Benicia driver won the world championship in his class.

Joy was racing on new tires, which took their time to break in. His car was so loose that he qualified badly, starting his races from the rear. But Joy discovered he liked that spot at the beginning of the race. As his tires finally took hold of the track, he was able to work his way up, not only past other masters but ahead of younger drivers as well.

“I like coming through and working my way up,” he said.

The only one he couldn’t catch was Hall.

“I had Kirk in my sights,” he said, “But he was ahead of me by 1,000 feet.” That was too long an interval to beat, he said. The pair finished one-two both Saturday and Sunday.

Joy already is back at Sonoma, where Legends cars will be able to participate in events prior to the Toyota-Save Mart 350 feature race in a weekend of activity celebrating NASCAR Sprint Cup’s annual visit to the track.

He’ll be racing Saturday afternoon, he said.

“I’ve been out six months,” Joy said about driving his No. 47 race car. He laughed at how he felt when he first climbed back in and attached his steering wheel before last weekend’s fun.

“I got my belts on. I had new shoes. The helmet felt too tight,” he said, mimicking how he fidgeted with his gear.

Then he started his car, got in place and pressed the accelerator as the green flag fell.

“It’s like riding a bicycle,” he said.

In past years, Joy has pushed for points and victories, and has multiple championships and trophies to show for the effort.

Now he’s racing for something more intangible. He’s picking and choosing races he thinks will be fun, such participating in the NASCAR weekend at Sonoma, racing the expanded Thunderhill track, and going along the turns at Laguna Seca.

He’s giving himself chances to experiment with his car’s handling, and to tweak his own driving style.

When he noticed he was braking too deep last weekend, he realized he wasn’t letting his car react to Sonoma’s technical turns.

“They let us do the chute,” he said about the track’s configuration past Turn 3. “I was sliding – I should have turned into the slide,” he said.

He began correcting his driving during the race, not worrying whether such experimenting would ruin his chance at another championship.

While he’s taken himself out of championship contention and is driving for the fun of it, he still managed two seconds last weekend, he noted.

Joy said he’s looking forward to his limited season, especially the lengthy Thunderhill track at Willows.

“They’ve opened it up so it’s a five-mile track. You talk about trying to remember every turn!” he said. The track had between 15 to 20 turns before. Now it’s nearly twice that.

“I can’t wait!” Joy said.

He’ll be at that track July 4 weekend. But before he heads to Willows, he’ll be at Sonoma Raceway, 29355 Arnold Dr, Sonoma. He’ll have practices at 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., and will race at 3:30 p.m. Saturday after the NASCAR K&N Pro West race.