Joey Logano Youngest Driver to Win A Hooters Pro Cup Series Race

JOEY LOGANO YOUNGEST DRIVER TO WIN A HOOTERS PRO CUP SERIES EVENT
Publisher:	Lou Lauer
Dated:	Saturday, June 11 2005 @ 10:31 PM EDT

USAR had to break out the non-alcoholic version of the victory lane champagne tonight. Inheriting the lead on lap 229, 15-year old Joey Logano had to endure a green-white-checker at the end and hold off a hot Mardy Lindley to claim the victory in only his second Pro Cup race.

Logano had run consistently in the top 10 all night long and was running in third when then leader Jeff Agnew was spun by second place running Shane Huffman on lap 227. Agnew had to pit for a flat tire and Huffman received one of the many penalties handed out by USAR for rough driving and had to restart at the tailend of the lead lap, thus giving the top spot to Logano. Not to take anything away from the pilot of the Logano Motorsports #51 Ford, because he certainly showed he belonged up front tonight. In fact his car may have been the only one without a dent or scratch on it at the conclusion of the race! As one veteran crew chief said after the race, "I hate to admit it, but he's the real deal."

It wasn't the prettiest of USAR races, it was marred by numerous cautions for single and multi-car spins. It seems that maybe the heat of the day and night may have taken it's toll on driver patience as several were on the receiving end of a front bumper and others were on the receiving end of a penalty for using that bumper.

The early stages of the race were dominated by the Predator Performance Ford of Benny Gordon. Gordon took over the lead from pole-sitter Shelby Howard around lap 28 and held it until just past halfway when he finally pitted. All of the other cars had pitted, except Gordon, quite a few laps earlier and Gordon's late pit stop would require him to work his way through the field from near 20th position. Spot by spot, Gordon advanced until he spun Mart Nesbitt on lap 187 and received his penalty from race control. Gordon was never a factor for the win after that.

Shelby Howard led some of the middle portion of the race until the NGA Golf Ford of Jeff Agnew took the lead on lap 159 and held it through many cautions right up until his incident with Shane Huffman. From there, Logano had only to hold on for a few dozen laps for his chance to do donuts on the front stretch. It wasn't the younger drivers who couldn't keep their cool tonight!

Race results:
Fin./St./Name/Car Make/Laps Completed/Money Won

1.(6) Joey Logano, Ford, 255, $11,000
2.(9) Mike Laughlin, Jr., Ford, 255, $6,500
3.(23) Glenn Gault, Chevrolet, 255, $6,150
4.(11) Mardy Lindley, Ford, 255, $5,200
5.(25) D. J. Kennington, Pontiac, 255, $3,750
6.(12) Jeff Agnew, Ford, 255, $3,800
7.(10) Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, $3,400
8.(4) Benny Gordon, Ford, 255, $5,200
9.(3) Clay Rogers, Ford, 255, $2,400
10.(18) A. J. Frank, Ford, 255, $2,300
11.(13) Mart Nesbitt, Ford, 255, $2,200
12.(5) Shane Huffman, Ford, 255, $2,100
13.(17) Tim Bainey, Jr., Ford, 255, $2,000
14.(24) Woody Howard, Chevrolet, 255, $1,900
15.(1) Shelby Howard, Pontiac, 255, $2,800
16.(16) Johnny Rumley, Chevrolet, 254, $2,500
17.(33) Jimmy Spencer, Pontiac, 251, $1,600
18.(36) Jeremy Miller, Chevrolet, 251, $1,600
19.(27) Vince Fanello, Chevrolet, 247, $1,600
20.(35) Robbie Marhefka, Chevrolet, 246, $1,600
21.(28) Joe Gaita, Ford, 217, $1,400
22.(2) Joel Kauffman, Pontiac, 210, $1,800
23.(34) Jason Mignogna, Chevrolet, 175, $1,400
24.(32) Todd Peck, Chevrolet, 149, $1,400
25.(8) Michael Ritch, Ford, 141, $1,400
26.(7) Mark McFarland, Chevrolet, 135, $1,200
27.(19) Eric Corbett, Ford, 133, $1,200
28.(20) Danny Sammons, Ford, 118, $1,700
29.(26) Randy Humphrey, Ford, 118, $1,200
30.(30) Leslie Law, Ford, 118, $1,200
31.(29) Sam Fullone, Chevrolet, 114, $1,500
32.(14) Jody Lavender, Ford, 65, $1,200
33.(21) Toby Porter, Ford, 62, $1,200
34.(31) Jeff Oakley, Chevrolet, 32, $1,200
35.(22) Lonnie Rush, Jr., Chevrolet, 20, $1,200
36.(15) Michelle Theriault, Chevrolet, 15, $1,200

Time of Race: 1:48:31
Margin of Victory: .679 Sec.
Caution Flags: 16 for 82 Laps
Lead Changes: 5 Lead Changes Among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders: 1-28 Shelby Howard (59); 29-126 Benny Gordon (98); 127-157 Shelby Howard; 158-226 Jeff Agnew (69); 227-228 Shane Huffman (2); 229-255 Joey Logano (27).