Joey Logano Set To Make Tour-Type Modified Debut At Speedweeks
16-Year-Old Hotshoe Got the Bug at North-South Shootout, Will Run Richie Evans Memorial
MOORESVILLE, NC (February 1, 2007) – For all of his life, 16-year-old Joey Logano has excelled in any form of motorsports he’s competed in. From Quarter Midgets to Legends cars to Late Models to the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, Logano has found success rather early and quite often. Now, Logano is opening up the door to a new form of racing; one that will test his racing ability to the extreme. Logano is set to make his NASCAR Tour-Type Modified debut at the 41st Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.
Logano, a Joe Gibbs Racing Development Driver, is planning to run the Modified on two separate occasions – during Wednesday night’s event and then again during Friday night’s 100-lap Richie Evans Memorial. Depending on how those races go, Logano might run the Modified on other nights as well.
“My first race with the Busch East Series isn’t until mid-April,” said Logano. “I’ve got to do something. I’m getting bored out of my mind just sitting around and waiting for things to get going. I’ve been online racing my butt off. I’ve got to do something in a real car. It’s just something to do really.
“It’s something fun to do. I’m going down to win. If I go to a racetrack, I want to win. I will have fun no matter what. I’m just really looking forward to it.”
Logano got his first taste of a Modified last fall when he took some laps in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour star Donny Lia’s backup car at the North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsport Park (NC). Logano, who had gotten a car to possibly run the North-South Shootout, then decided to make his Modified debut at Speedweeks in Florida.
“It’s a Gary Cretty Modified (Ted Christopher and Tony Hirschman are each former Cretty divers). It’s been sitting in the trailer for a couple of years, but it’s a car that won a championship a few years ago. It’s a real good car. It’s a nice car. She is ready to go.
“I really think the Modified is the coolest car I’ve ever drove. You add up the tires, the fact that the car is light and all of the horsepower it’s got; its just makes for a fun car to drive. That thing really goes, too. I think we were two seconds faster than the Pro Cup car at Concord. It was sick.”
Logano’s RaceWorks chassis will carry the #26 on the side.
“I would say it’s one of the neatest cars I’ve ever driven. It felt like a big go-kart. You drive it down in the corner, don’t use much break, turn it and go. The cars go just about anywhere you want them to go. In my eyes, that is a pretty neat racecar. The only thing is, I think it’s going to take a little bit to get used to how they are darty down the straightaway.”
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. 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.
