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Logano, in the No. 6, finished in the top-10 in each of his four starts. |
MOORESVILLE, NC (February 20, 2007) – When 16-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing Development Driver Joey Logano climbed out of his NASCAR Tour-Type Modified last Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, you couldn’t wipe the smile off of his race. The youngster, who has been successful in everything he’s ever run on a racetrack, finally got to live out a dream and run a Tour-Type Modified.
In that race, Joey finished eighth, mixing it up with some of the best that run in the Whelen Modified Tour, Whelen Southern Modified Tour and the Race of Champions. He called it “the most exciting 25 laps I’ve ever run.”
At the end of a very long Florida Speedweeks, Logano still had that same exact smile on his face.
“I had a blast. I laughed the whole time out there behind the wheel,” said Logano, who ran former Gary Cretty Raceworks #6 during The World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. “I had a lot of fun, and I learned some stuff during the weekend. It was nice to get back in the seat again. I had a great time driving the Modified. That is pretty much the coolest car you can drive in my eyes.
“It was pretty much crazy the whole time I was on the track. Those guys don’t ride around and save tires. It’s pretty much a different style of racing altogether. Those guys don’t mess around. It’s a lot like going to a go-kart track and beating the heck out of each other with your friends. You are always getting hit from the back and hitting the guy in front of you. It makes it a lot of fun.”
Logano was planning to make just one or two starts in his Modified during the week, but those plans changed rather quickly. Logano made his first start on Saturday night, where he finished eighth. He came back on Monday and finished sixth.
Logano scored his best finish of the week on Wednesday night in the 50-lapper, coming home third after running up front and challenging for the win. Logano came back in Friday night’s Richie Evans Memorial 100 to finish 9th.
“I think our performance could have been better,” said Logano. “I really wanted to win. I’m kind of bummed out that we didn’t win, but we gained a lot from where we started when we tested there. We were junk then. (Eddie) Flemke came over and helped us out and got us where we needed to be. After that, we were front runners.
“We had that third-place run, and I thought we were going to have something for that 100-lapper, but they made us start in the rear. The car just wasn’t there. The car wasn’t as good. Something must have happened to it. The car drove like a Stock Car after that. That took all the fun out of it.”
Despite not ever running a Modified before, Logano wasn’t afraid to mix it up with the regulars like Ted Christopher, John Blewett III, Jimmy Blewett, Donny Lia and others.
“I loved racing with those guys, especially ‘TC’ (Ted Christopher). He’s a cool guy. He’ll run you hard, but he ran me really clean. We ran hard, don’t get me wrong, but he never wrecked me.”
Logano is planning a full season of NASCAR Busch East Series competition this year after spending the last two seasons in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series. He’ll also compete in a select number of NASCAR West Series races. Over the last two years, Logano has scored three wins in the Pro Cup division, including becoming the youngest winner in series history, when he won at Mansfield Motorsports Park in 2005 at the age of 15.
The first Busch East Series event of the year is set for April 28th at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina.