A race car doesn’t know how old the driver is…Bobby Allison

On Being Joey Logano

by Deane Mercier

July 16, Norwalk, CT--- By now you have heard or read about Joey Logano, the 17-year phenom out of Middletown, Connecticut, who was signed by Joe Gibbs Racing as part of the teams’ driver development program to run in the NASCAR Busch East Series.

I wanted to see him drive and I wanted to meet and talk with him and also talk with some of his competitors and others before I jumped on this particular bandwagon.

Now just in case you haven’t heard or read about him a little background. He began racing Quarter-Midgets at age 7 on the Little T at Thompson International Speedway. After his family moved to Atlanta he worked his way up through Bandoleer and Legend cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Then it was on to Late Model events where he took the checkers for his first USAR in 2005 and two more wins in 2006. He was the top driver in the GM Racing Development Driver Evaluation program in 2006.

And the buzz was beginning. Good things, great things were predicted for Logano. So far in his burgeoning career things seem to be working out.

My first opportunity to see him race came at Stafford Motor Speedway where he started 6^th and finished 11^th in the June 8 TSI Harley Davidson 150. I thought he did well considering it was his first race on the half-mile track and his first race back in his home state. Logano was disappointed though. He wanted a better finish in his first race back in Connecticut.

On Saturday, July 14 he was back in Connecticut for the running of the Busch East Pepsi 100 at Thompson.

As I was wandering around the paddock area prior to the race I ran into John Holland, the distributor of New England Racing Fuels, Sunoco Brand. I asked John to tell me a little about Logano.

“We had him come up to Augusta, Maine back in January for the Maine Motor sports Expo and he couldn’t have been better,” said Holland, “he gave us all the time we needed. He asked us what we needed and wanted him to do and he was great with fans. He signed autographs, posed for pictures; he was polite and courteous to everyone. He reminded me of Tony Stewart, the way Tony is with the fans when he makes an appearance at a local track or for a sponsor."

Holland went on to tell me that when the appearance was over he asked Logano, who was accompanied on the trip by his mother, if there was anything they would like to do, someplace they would like to go. “He told me that they just wanted to drive around the Maine countryside for a while and so I lent them my truck and off they went. You know I can’t say anything but good things about him and his family. He really is a good kid.”

So Logano has the fan and sponsor schmooze thing down.

On the track, well, he has the racing thing down too. “He has excellent cars and a good team behind him,” said Busch East veteran Matt Kobyluck who drives the Mohegan Sun Chevy. “He has a good head, lots of talent. He is a down to earth guy, he’s easy to talk to, almost shy.

Andy Santerre knows a thing or two about getting around race tracks as his four consecutive Busch East (North) championships (2002, '03, '04 and '05) will attest. “Well, first of all he has a real good team,” said Santerre who now owns Santerre Motor sports with driver Sean Caisse at the wheel of the Casella Waste Systems Chevy. “He’s a patient driver; he stays out of trouble on the track. He’s a good kid. I like him. Joe Gibbs Racing did well when they signed him.”

When I finally got the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Logano I found him to be all that Holland, Kobyluck and Santerre said he was and he echoed some of the same things that were said about him.

“My team is great. They give me great cars. I try to be patient on the track,” said the rail thin Logano. "I expect the best of myself. My team supports me and I have very strong support from my family and that means a lot.”

In the seven races run thus far this season Logano has three wins, including New Hampshire and one third place finish. He finished fifth at Thompson. He is the series point’s leader with 1,144--- 95 points ahead of Mike Olsen and 114 in front of Kobyluck. He also leads the Rookie of the Year points.

Logano is a rising star in NASCAR, no doubt about it. He gets a lot of media attention and there are rumblings that he may be getting too much. Many felt that way when a guy by the name of Jeff Gordon started making headlines. They came around on Gordon and they will come around on Logano.

Deane Mercier worked in radio for 35 years as a DJ and talk show host. He is currently the Host Broadcaster for Stafford Motor Speedway and is a Motorsports correspondent for the Hour Newspaper (CT).  Deane may be contacted at DeaneMercier@aol.com.

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