DPR Sports & Racing News

JOEY LOGANO

Joseph "Joey" Logano (born May 24, 1990 in Middletown, Connecticut ) nicknamed "sliced bread" from Randy LaJoie, currently drives the #20 Home DepotToyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series and the #20 GameStopToyota Camry in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Logano's first major NASCAR win came during the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway in just his third start in the 2008 Nationwide Series. Logano made history becoming the youngest driver to win a Nationwide Series race at 18 years, 21 days old, since Casey Atwood in 1999 at 18 years, 10 months, 9 days.

Early racing career

Logano began his racing career in 1996 as a 6-year-old quarter midget racer living in Connecticut. In 1997 Logano won his first Eastern Grand National Championship in the Jr. Stock Car Division. He followed it up with a Jr. Honda Division Championship in 1998 and in early 1999 a Lt. Mod. Division Championship. Later in 1999 Logano won 3 New England Regional Championships in the Sr. Stock, Lt. Mod., Lt. B. divisions.

Logano's family was then relocated in Georgia, to help better his sister's figure skating career. The transaction allowed Logano to win a Bandolero Bandits Series Championship. At age 10 he went on to racing Legend cars, where he set a 14-consecutive winning streak track record at Atlanta Motor Speedway, along with a Lions National Championship. At age 12, Logano won the Southeast-based Pro Legends National championship. Afterwards he spent a couple years racing various forms of pavement Late Model racing.

Veteran NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin, who was driving for Roush at the time, called Joey Logano "the real deal". When Logano was 15, Martin said "I am high on Joey Logano because I am absolutely, 100-percent positive, without a doubt that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR. I'm positive. There's no doubt in mind."

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Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, signs autographs for fans Thursday before the drawing for positions in Saturday's Budweiser Shootout.

Logano Wins First His Chicagoland Speedway Race – In Record Style Joey Logano earned his third NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) victory of the season in Friday night's race at Chicagoland Speedway. http://danspitstopracing.com/nascar_nationwide_series ________________________________________________ Photo Gallery fron Chicagoland Speedway Dollar General 300 Proud Dad before the race... congratulates son after race... Photos by Dan Peters Logano Wins at Pocono LONG POND PA (6-6-09) - NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Joey Logano turned his test and tune day Saturday afternoon at Pocono Raceway into an ARCA RE/MAX Series triumph. Logano, in the Venturini Motorsports-prepared Home Depot Toyota, entered the Pocono ARCA 200 to get seat-time for the next-day Pocono 500 Cup race. The Middletown, Connecticut driver got that and plenty more as he led the most laps en route to his second series victory in his fourth series start. "It's a good series to learn a lot," said Logano, who led 52 of 80 laps during the 200-mile race "For me, it helped me out a lot today to get some experience for the Sprint Cup race coming up here tomorrow. I definitely had a great race car today. We led, I'd say, most of the laps. The one time we got a little challenge but I think we were able to adjust the car and make it better. All the guys did a great job, we had good stops, came out first every time out of the pits so that was pretty cool. I had fun out here and I learned a lot." The challenge that Logano referred to came from rookie Parker Kligerman, who after first-round pit stops, caught and passed Logano for the lead and began to pull away. However, Kligerman had two left-front tires go down resulting in two unscheduled pit stops that eventually relegated the Westport, Connecticut rookie to sixth in the final running order. Outside of the mid-race challenge from Kligerman, Logano had no immediate challengers throughout the race, finishing nearly two seconds in front of second place finisher and current point leader Justin Lofton. "We had a good day," said Lofton, who led the first 14 laps. "Eddie Sharp Racing prepares cars equally as good as anything on the Cup side, so I can't complain. It's getting a little frustrating running second everywhere, but we're building a pretty good point lead, so that's good. We only got a few laps of practice this morning so that didn't help, but all in all, we had a really good day." Patrick Sheltra, in the Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge, finished third. "Feel like our season is turning around for us," said Sheltra. "The guys on the crew did a great job all day. We'll take it - good day for us." Rookie Joey Coulter, after a tire went flat, battled back from one lap down to finish a career-best fourth in the Darrell Gwynn Foundation-Tempest Cycles Chevrolet. "It got a little scary when we had that tire go down but it was early in the race and I knew once we made that pit stop we would need another caution so that we could get the lucky dog and we just kind of worked from there," Coulter said. "The pit crew did an awesome job and gained us I think like six spots the first stop and then they gained us another one or two or maybe three the second stop." Matt Merrell finished fifth in the ColinsHope.org Dodge. The ARCA RE/MAX Series heads to Michigan Int'l Speedway next Friday, June 12 for the Racing For Wildlife 200 live on SPEED at 5:00 PM.

Joey Logano tied his career-best finish of ninth in his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start at Darlington Raceway and led 19 of 367 laps in Saturday night's race.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Denny Hamlin (13th), Scott Speed (26th), Robby Gordon (28th), David Reutimann (29th), Brian Vickers (31st), Marcos Ambrose (33rd), Kyle Busch (34th), Max Papis (35th), Scott Riggs (39th), Michael Waltrip (40th) and Dave Blaney (41st).   
Five Camry drivers are in the top-20 in the unofficial NNS driver points -- Hamlin (fifth), Busch (seventh), Reutimann (15th), Vickers (17th) and Ambrose (20th).  

What does it mean to have a top-10 finish at Darlington?
"Ups and downs tonight.  We started off the race too loose and going backwards.  We made little changes, but we were good. Everything we did was good and we just kept working on it throughout the race.  

I was 'shoeing' it up as much as I can and I was trying to save the right side as much as I can.  Learned a lot of things that will help me set up my car that I found in my race car that I didn't like.  I learned a lot, I was happy with that.  We led a lot of laps - I thought that was cool - leading Darlington.  Coming into this place, I thought this was the one place that I was going to suck horribly.  

I thought I was going to be worse than we were in Texas this year.  I was happy, we qualified good.  We ran top-10 all day, top-five for a while.

Just too tight and it is so aero-dependent and it showed when I was out front because I was like, 'See-ya.'  It is what it is and I will take a top-10 and realistically the way I look at it that is our first top-10.  Talladega doesn't mean nothing to me - that's a top-10, but its Talladega.  This is a hard-earned top-10, no luck played into it.  It's great for these guys - its huge."

How challenging is this race track?
"This place will kill you - trust me.  You're running right up by the fence and all day you are about in the fence.  It's close, but it's fun, its grueling and I'm glad its over."

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When Joey Logano climbs into the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for the 51st running of the "Great American Race," on Sunday, Feb. 15, he will make history as the youngest driver to start a Daytona 500 – NASCAR's biggest, richest and most prestigious race.

If Logano, who will be 18 years, 8 months and 22 days old on the date of this year's Daytona 500, can get the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and his Joe Gibbs Racing team into Gatorade Victory Lane in his first Daytona 500 start, he will surpass Jeff Gordon as the youngest driver to win "The Great American Race." Gordon won his first Daytona 500 back in 1997 at the age of 25.

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"I went down there last five or six years and I've had to watch from the sidelines and to be involved in it (this) year is really exciting," Logano said. "There's just so much history there and to be able to be on the same track that so many legends have won at is really an honor. It's Daytona and that's the Daytona 500. Even though I've never run in the race, I know how much of a big deal it is."

Logano began racing at age six and signed on with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver development program back in 2005. In three short years, Logano already posts an impressive resume of racing accomplishments including a 2007 Camping World East Championship and a 2008 win at his ARCA/REMAX Series debut at Rockingham.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Contender Joey Logano listens to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch before Saturday's Daytona 500 practice at Daytona International Speedway.

Before Logano suits up for the 51st annual Daytona 500, he will first compete in a rare "Daytona double" on Saturday, Feb. 7 when he races in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA/REMAX Series season opener and the Budweiser Shootout All-Star race.

In addition, Logano will participate in Daytona 500 Qualifying Presented By Kroger on Sunday, Feb. 8, the Gatorade Duel At Daytona on Thursday, Feb. 12 and the Camping World 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series season opener on Saturday, Feb. 14.

"I'm doing it," Logano said of his busy DIRECTV Speedweeks 2009 schedule. "I'm running both races (ARCA and Budweiser Shootout) and then I've got the Nationwide race with the GameStop Toyota and then running the Cup race with the Home Depot Toyota. Between all that, I've got my hands full."