NASCAR’s highly touted prodigy lived up to his billing in the rain-delayed Heluva Good! 200 Saturday, finishing sixth in his first Nationwide Series start.
But the 18-year-old phenom wasn’t happy about it. He felt an early pit-road mistake cost him a chance at a victory in his coming-out party.
“Sixth ain’t much in my book,” Logano said. “... I’m not going to be happy unless I win and I say that everywhere I go. Everyone is here for the same reasons and that’s winning races.”
Logano’s disappointment nonwithstanding, the 18-year old Middletown native showed the skill of a veteran in battling back from deep in the field early in the event to score a top-10 finish at Dover.
“It was like racing with a veteran,” Rogers said. “There was no rookie in that race car today.”
When Logano celebrated his 18th birthday May 24, it made him eligibile to run in the Nationwide, Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. Logano is expected to run 17 or 18 of the year’s 21 remaining Nationwide events.
Logano, the 2007 Camping World East Series champion, qualified ninth in the morning and worked his way to seventh before the first caution on lap 20.
“I think it’s a huge success,” Rogers said. “I think Joey Logano met everyone’s expectations. There was a lot of hype, a lot of talk and a lot of pressure for an 18-year old and I think he handled it like a champion. We came off the truck bad [on Saturday]. Our race car was not handling well. It was not what he needed and he kept telling us what he needed to go faster and every time we gave it to him he went faster. He put us in the top 10.”
Logano didn’t want to hear it, but was happy to get through the hype of his first Nationwide weekend. From the moment he entered the garage Friday until he got in the car to start the race Saturday, Logano was stalked by flocks of cameras crews and photographers.
“He handled it like a pro,” said his father, Tom. “He handled so much pressure and he did a great job. It was fun. He did a good job. Now that he’s got one under his belt he can look forward to focusing on racing.”
Hamlin spoke with Logano immediately after the race.
“He congratulated me, but a sixth-place finish ain’t much in my book,’’ Logano said. “I had a decent car, but I screwed up in the pits and put myself in a position I didn’t need to be in.”
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