CONCORD, N.C. — Story and audio by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — John Davison photo —
Joey Logano’s Charlotte victory in Sunday’s rain-postponed Bank of America 500 wasn’t just a win — it was a beatdown.
Leading 227 of 334 laps, beating reigning series champion Kevin Harvick on heads-up speed and punching a ticket into the Eliminator Round for the second consecutive year would tend to back that statement up.
In fact, it was the kind of performance that was expected of the Middletown, Conn. native long before it actually happened. After all, his talent was the reason that ageless veteran Mark Martin gave Logano the nickname ‘Sliced Bread’ (as in the greatest thing since).
But before he got to Team Penske, Logano endured four miserable seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing trying to find his footing. With only two wins (one in his rookie campaign at Loudon in 2009 and a second at Pocono in 2012) across 144 full-time starts at NASCAR’s top level, people began to wonder if the young driver had been overhyped — after all, he wasn’t performing up to expectations at that time, was he?
Roger Penske, on the other hand, was one of those who did believe in Logano’s talent — and he explained following Sunday’s impressive triumph that he never doubted Logano’s ability — the New Englander simply needed the right situation, one that he was lucky enough to be able to provide beginning with the 2013 season.
“I do want to be clear, in NASCAR, just like with our IndyCar program, we look at drivers that know how to win and there was no question [that] in equal equipment, Joey ran wheel to wheel with Kyle Busch many times, so that validated that piece [of the puzzle],” Penske said to Race Chaser Online regarding what he saw in Logano three years ago before agreeing to hire him to a Team Penske seat. “After sitting with Joey and talking with him about technically — how does he look at the car or how does he connect with the engineering folks — obviously we understood that he was a student of the sport, and he was committed.”
“He was young, but he was committed, and that was important to us.”
Penske already had one younger driver in Michigan’s Brad Keselowski on his team, who would ultimately go on to win the championship at the end of that 2012 season, and he added that Keselowski provided a glowing endorsement of Logano that convinced him the two would be a solid fit as teammates.
“Brad played a big part in [selecting Joey] because he and I talked about who would be the right person,” Penske recalled. “Brad had come on our team and looked around the room to see kind of how we operated, and he said Joey would be the right guy.”
“I think it was support from Brad knowing that Joey was already a winner [that ultimately tipped the scale]. This is not anything that should be new to anyone because he’s driven against the best and won early on in his career, even though there were certain times that people maybe had statements about his ability or what he did. But to me, it was an easy decision.”
It may have been an easy decision for Penske in the latter stages of 2012, but it was also a decision that came on the heels of Logano’s contract ending at Joe Gibbs Racing — leaving the young driver with a crossroads for his future and the Captain with a phone call to make to the Coach.
Penske added that his phone call was never a stroke of luck, it fell perfectly at a time when Logano ultimately ended up being ready to make a change.
“I wasn’t lucky; he was available,” Penske insists. “In fact, it was interesting, I called Joe Gibbs and said, ‘Look, I’ve got a full-time ride for Joey,’ and I think they were trying to put something together at that point, and Joey knows that, and I said, ‘Look, I’ll wait.'”
“I actually waited a week before we even put it together because I wanted to be open and honest with Joe. But at that point we moved ahead, and obviously we got one of the very best guys in this business today.”
That statement couldn’t be any more true. Since coming to Team Penske, Logano has made the Chase in each of his three seasons driving the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion and has tallied 10 of his 12 Sprint Cup victories, 45 top fives, 65 top 10s and eight poles along the way.
This season alone, Logano has set career-highs in single-season top fives, top 10s and poles, and is one victory away from tying his single-season record for victories at five.
But at the end of the day, the now-25 year old says it’s not just a product of the equipment, or even solely because of his personal maturation as a driver.
He chalks it up to ‘family.’
“When you get the right people around you, the word team kind of gets a whole new definition sometimes,” Logano said. “It becomes a family, and I look at how tight all of Team Penske is — but in particular the 22 team, how tight we are as a group. There’s not one person that says this is my job and I won’t do nothing else. Everyone is always picking up the slack where they need to. There’s no one that’s too big for themselves and wants to be Hollywood out there.”
“Everyone is a bunch of racers. I’m proud to be a part of that group. It’s an honor to be a part of that group, and it makes me excited every time we get a chance to go out and race for wins. I’m excited for what the future holds.”
Logano will have his next shot to visit NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory lane in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), but for now?
He’s simply enjoying the ride, and he has one ‘Captain’ to thank for helping him get there.
Listen in to Race Chaser Online’s conversation with the Captain, Roger Penske, following Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte:
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Follow Race Chaser Online: @RaceChaserNews
