BROOKLYN, Mich. — Joey Logano’s first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory in only his third start has given team owner Joe Gibbs reason to look ahead to even greater prospects for the young driver.
The 18-year-old driver won the pole on Saturday and trailed Kyle Busch for 85 laps of Saturday’s race before taking control of the outcome with a victory running away from the field.
Gibbs knew he had a talented driver when he signed Logano, but even “The Coach” was surprised how quickly he found victory lane.
“Yeah, I don’t think anyone would have thought he would win in his third race,” Gibbs said. “It’s extremely hard up here. I tell everybody even though we’ve obviously been on a roll this year...We’ve had good drivers, but it’s been a struggle for us, and this year we just seem to have hit it. I’m really proud of our crew chiefs and everybody over there. We’re obviously happy for Joey.
“I was so concerned the first part of the year with Joey, even though we knew all the talent he had. I was so worried about all the pressure and everything that had been put on him, so you kind of watch him, and the family and the support and everything he has. He handles everything so well, and we’re just thrilled that we get off to that kind of start with him.”
Gibbs said the next step for Logano will be a few Sprint Cup races later this season.
“We would like to get him in some Cup stuff toward the end of the year,” Gibbs said. “Whether we do it or not, we want to make sure he’s in good stuff and doing it the right way. Our biggest thing with Joey is we knew the talent and were committed for the long haul, and we were just going to take our time, but also, he tested 32 times in different cars getting ready for this year.
“He has been in a Cup car a bunch. So every time he gets in there, he’s extremely smooth and seems to handle everything real well. If we can get him in something, we’d like to by the end of this year.”