Joey Logano
Driver

At just 15 years of age, Joey Logano was called “the real deal” by respected NASCAR veteran Mark Martin.  Now 17, Logano is a step closer to joining Martin in the elite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

By simply starting the season-ending Sunoco 150 NASCAR Camping World Series East race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Sept. 21, Logano clinched the 2007 Camping World East championship.  And he did it with style, leading three times for a race-high 79 laps before finishing second in the 150-lap race on the 1-mile oval.

“We set a goal at the beginning of the year to win the championship,” said Logano, who became the series’ first rookie champion since the inception of the division in 1989.  “Whether we’re rookies or not, we went into every race thinking we could win, and that’s what you have to do to win races and a championship.  It was our goal all year, and it’s what we expected out of ourselves.”

Logano’s ninth podium finish capped a season that saw the Middletown, Conn., take seven checkered flags – five in Camping World East, one in the NASCAR Camping World Series West where Logano made his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) debut at Phoenix International Raceway, and at the Oct. 20 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway, which is billed as the “Daytona 500 of Short Track Racing.”

His win at Phoenix, where JGR teammate and fellow development driver Marc Davis finished second, sparked Logano’s Camping World East campaign.  The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet never went more than two consecutive races without a victory, as Logano won the Camping World East season-opener at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway April 28, Iowa Speedway in Newton May 20, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon June 29, Adirondack Speedway in Beaver Falls, N.Y., July 29 and New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sept. 14.

Logano’s championship was the fourth for JGR, with the company’s three previous titles coming in the Sprint Cup Series via Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Tony Stewart in 2002 and 2005.

“Winning the championship is what we’d been trying to do all year, and to finally get it is pretty neat,” Logano said.  “It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do in racing. 

“I’ll get in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car this year.  I’ve got to wait until I turn 18, which is May 24.  I’ll probably get some Camping World Series races in at the beginning of the year, and then we’ll see what we have when I turn 18.  I’m just learning all I can right now so that when I turn 18 I’m ready to go Nationwide Series racing.”

Logano’s ascent to Camping World Series East champion and soon-to-be Nationwide Series regular began at age six when he started his racing career in quarter-midgets.  By age seven, he’d picked up his first Eastern Grand National Championship in the junior stock quarter-midget division.  He followed that first title up with Eastern Grand National Championships in 1998 and 1999 in the Stock and Modified divisions, respectively.

By age nine, Logano was racing Bandoleros, winning the Summer Shootouts at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., to earn another national championship. 

From there, it was onto Legend cars, where a 12-year-old Logano set a track record of 14 consecutive wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, along with winning the Young Lions National Championship in 2002.  Logano also won the Pro National Championship in 2002, making him the youngest champion in Legends history. 

After conquering his opponents in Legends, Logano made a successful transition to Late Model stock cars.  At 13, Logano competed in the Georgia Late Model Series and the Southern All-Stars, winning three times. 

Winning meant another step up the racing ladder.  In 2004, Logano participated in the American Speed Association (ASA) and the ASA Late Model Series, where he earned five top-five and eight top-10 finishes.

Logano’s rapid climb toward a career in NASCAR got a boost when JGR signed the youngster to its driver development program in 2005.  Just days after turning 15, Logano made his debut in the Hooters Pro Cup Series.  Less than a month later on June 11, Logano scored his first Hooters Pro Cup win at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Speedway. 

The 2006 season saw continued success in Hooters Pro Cup, with Logano winning two races and a pole en route to a solid fifth-place finish in the Southern Division point standings. It was a precursor of the success Logano would attain in Camping World East in 2007.

from the JGR Press Kit

Page last updated: February 26, 2008.