ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — On a historic day for Rockingham Speedway and the ARCA RE/MAX Series, it was an up-and-coming young gun who put on the show during Sunday’s inaugural Carolina 500.
In his first ARCA RE/MAX Series start, 17-year-old Joey Logano drove like a veteran, beating Ken Schrader to the checkered flag by 4.164 seconds. Driving the Venturini Motorsports-prepared No. 25 Joe Gibbs Racing Oil-Gresham & Associates Chevrolet, Logano led 257 of 312 circuits around the 1.017-mile track.
At one point, Logano had all but the second-place machine of Michael Annett lapped and was clearly the class of the field from the drop of the green flag. But two late-race cautions nearly changed the complexion of the race for the Middletown, Conn., native.
When a caution flag waved on lap 273, Logano’s crew gambled and stayed on track while the other leaders pitted for fresh tires. At the restart, Logano fell into the clutches of Annett and Schrader, only to stalk Schrader around the abrasive speedway to regain the lead on lap 291. But when Tim Mitchell spun in turn three to bring out the caution with 10 laps to go, Logano pitted for fresh tires and lined up behind Schrader, Matt Hawkins and Annett.

DOMINANT: Joey Logano (25) leads the field during Sunday's Carolina 500 at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway. (ARCA Photo)

At the restart, Logano stuck his Chevrolet into turns one and two to regain second place. From there, he overtook Schrader’s No. 52 Four Winds Motorhomes Dodge in turns three and four to retake the lead less than one lap after the restart. From there, it was smooth sailing for the Joe Gibbs Racing developmental driver who will make his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start at Dover Int’l Speedway later this month.
“I have to thank the Joe Gibbs crew for pitting me,” Logano said of the group made up of members from Gibbs’s No. 11 Sprint Cup and No. 20 Nationwide series teams. “They kept me out front. We’re going to get a shot at Dover coming up, and hopefully we’ll see victory lane there, too. I wasn’t running flat out the whole race. You’ve got to pace yourself. That’s a really big deal here at The Rock.”
Even though it was his first trip to Rockingham, Logano knew the importance of having fresh rubber, especially in the closing laps when Schrader had new tires.
“I couldn’t really pull a lot more out of (the tires),” Logano said. “I was hoping for a caution, but that was a little later than I wanted, that’s for sure. Tires are really big here. I just stuck (the car) on the outside and passed two cars. I knew by turn two that we had him (Schrader).”
Though he saw his chances of a 16th-career ARCA victory slipping away in the closing laps, Schrader was content with his runner-up finish.

FAST LEARNER: Joey Logano (25) moves below Ken Schrader in the closing laps of Sunday's Carolina 500 at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway. (Adam Kulikowski Photo)

“We were just a second-place car. I don’t even know if we were a second-place car, but we were able to steal second,” Schrader said. “We got the lead there close to the end and put on new tires and Joey didn’t. I ran about four laps and saw what was coming, and I had to get out of his way because I saw that he was coming.
“I’m happy. I’d forgotten how fun this place is. This is a fun race track.”
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., driving the RoushFenway.com Ford, crossed the line third, followed by Hawkins’s Dodge and Annett’s Toyota.
Sunday’s Carolina 500 was the first race at Rockingham Speedway (nee North Carolina Speedway) in more than four years. The track was purchased at auction in October by 1995 ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Andy Hillenburg. The race was also only the second ever ARCA event at the North Carolina facility. The first, a 300-mile race on June 10, 1973, went to Charlie Glotzbach, who, like Logano, captured the victory from the pole.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Joey Logano, Chevrolet, 312; 2. Ken Schrader, Dodge, 312; 3. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 312; 4. Matt Hawkins, Dodge, 312; 5. Michaell Annett, Toyota, 312; 6. Chad McCumbee, Chevrolet, 311; 7. Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 311; 8. Matt Carter, Ford, 311; 9. Tom Hessert, Ford, 310; 10. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 310; 11. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 309; 12. John Wes Townley, Ford, 309; 13. Clay Rogers, Ford, 308; 14. Tayler Malsam, Dodge, 308; 15. Alli Owens, Chevrolet, 306; 16. Nick Tucker, Dodge, 305; 17. Jeff Buice, Chevrolet, 305; 18. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 304; 19. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 303; 20. Kory Rabenold, Chevrolet, 300; 21. Jack Bailey, Toyota, 297; 22. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 290; 23. Mike Koch, Chevrolet, 290; 24. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 289; 25. Gabi DiCarlo, Chevrolet, 287; 26. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 285; 27. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 277; 28. James Hylton, Dodge, 271; 29. Ted Olswfski, Chevrolet, 271; 30. Bryan Silas, Ford, 266; 31. Justin Marks, Toyota, 265; 32. Brad Smith, Ford, 246; 33. Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 244; 34. Patrick Sheltra, Chevrolet, 200; 35. Scott Speed, Toyota, 152; 36. Dominick Casola, Dodge, 149; 37. Michael Phelps, Dodge, 127; 38. Billy Leslie, Ford, 122; 39. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 114; 40. Jeff Boyer, Chevrolet, 114; 41. Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 85; 42. Mike Holt, Ford, 79; 43. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 63; 44. Jesse Smith, Dodge, 62; 45. Ricky Sanders, Chevrolet, 46; 46. Brent Sherman, Chevrolet, 31; 47. Jason Basham, Chevrolet, 16; 48. A.J. Henriksen, Ford, 9; 49. Brandon Knupp, Ford, 2; 50. Wayne Peterson, Chevrolet, 0.