RSS
Home
'Sliced-bread' Logano is no longer toast
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Rookie Joey Logano was nicknamed “Sliced Bread” long before he entered his first race in the Sprint Cup series. But after years of being touted as the next best thing in NASCAR, he was looking more like toast at the start of his first full season of Cup.
Logano opened the year finishing 43rd in the Daytona 500 and was 30th or worse in five of the first seven races.
But now Logano, who turns 19 on May 24 -- the day of the Coca-Cola 600 -- is starting to show why he earned that nickname. He has top-10 finishes in two of the last three races going into the Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The Showdown is a qualifying event for non-winners hoping to advance to the All-Star Race. The top two finishers in the Showdown, along with one driver who is voted into the event by fans, will advance to the All-Star Race.
“It will be a good test for The Home Depot team,’’ said Logano, who tested at Lowe’s last season. “For some reason I have run well on tracks with new asphalt like Atlanta, Talladega and Darlington, so hopefully that will happen again at Charlotte.
“Ever since Phoenix, I feel like we have really gained some momentum. We have done what we needed to do over the last four weeks to run solidly and I’ve become much more comfortable with the (Car of Tomorrow).’’
Logano drove the No. 20 Toyota to a respectable 21st at Phoenix April 18, and then posted his first top 10 with a ninth-place showing while leading for four laps at Talladega a week later. He was 19th at Richmond on May 2, then had his most impressive outing to date at Darlington last Saturday night. Logano found himself in the lead late in the race and led for 19 laps in all. He was forced to pit for fuel and finished ninth.
“I led laps in the Southern 500,’’ Logano said Saturday night after the race. “I was stoked about that. I was all excited.
“I think we had a good run. There towards the end, we’re not in the points position to go gamble and try to stay out there on fuel right now. We played it conservative and got a solid top 10. That’s where we ran all day pretty much. We didn’t steal any spots, that’s just what it was.
“You know, the way I look at it, this is our first true top 10 I think.Talladega’s kind of a luck thing. So we were lucky. I’m thankful for it. But here we ran a solid top 10. Like I said, it’s one of those places I thought I was going to be really bad. I was happy with the way we ran.’’
He wasn’t the only one happy about the performance. Tony Stewart, who drove the No. 20 for 10 years at Joe Gibbs Racing and won two championships before leaving to become an owner-driver at Stewart-Haas Racing this season, was impressed with Logano’s effort.
“This kid did an awesome job tonight,’’ Stewart said. “First time here in a Cup car at Darlington, and this kid just did a great job. It was fun watching the 20 car up there. When he was leading the race I was smiling because I knew those guys have been waiting for this for a couple weeks now. It’s just a matter of time before Joey got going.’’
Related Articles:
Comments
