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Phenom Gets Sprint Cup Seat

By DAVID POOLE - The Charlotte Observer

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 26, 2008

Deb Logano didn't know, at least not really, what her son was getting into at first.

"I thought it was just going to be a little car that putt-putted around," she said, remembering the quarter-midget her husband, Tom, bought for his 5-year-old son, Joey. "The first time I saw him race in it he was going like 30 mph. I said, 'Oh goodness, this is a real race car!'"

Joey Logano is now a few months past his 18th birthday, and his newest race car is about as real as it gets. Logano was officially named Monday as Tony Stewart's replacement in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Logano, who debuted in NASCAR's Nationwide Series as soon as he could after his 18th birthday in May, will step up to the top-tier Sprint Cup Series beginning with selected races later this year. That starts in two weeks when he drives a No. 02 Toyota prepared by JGR at Richmond.

Logano then takes over full time in 2009 in the cars in which Stewart has won two Cup championships and 32 races. Stewart is leaving to be a driver and co-owner at Stewart Haas Racing in 2009.

Logano, Of Middletown, Conn., has been in the JGR driver development program since he was 15. He moved up quickly to legends cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway (where he once won 14 straight races) and Lowe's Motor Speedway. He was the national champion in the legends pro division at age 12.

Logano was barely 15 when NASCAR star Mark Martin started telling people that he'd seen the future and Logano was it. He's already got two poles and a race victory, along with seven top-10 finishes, in his first 10 Nationwide starts.

Now, he's got a Cup ride with one of the sport's best teams.

"It's a dream come true," Logano said. "I've been racing my whole life." That comment usually draws a chuckle, since Logano is just 18.

Frank Bifulco, the senior vice president and chief marketing officer for The Home Depot, praised Logano. "We see in Joey a mature young man who has the values, the work ethic and the competence," Bifulco said. "You look at what he's done in a car already, that gives us confidence going forward."

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