In the recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Joey Logano finished in 4th place. Logano, who started from the pole and led for 84 laps, received a payday in excess of $198,000 for his efforts. Last month, he finished 10th in the Las Vegas Kobalt 400 earning nearly $166,000. His net worth is estimated at $18 million.
Two months after he married his childhood sweetheart, Brittany Baca, in Ashville, NC (Dec., 2014), Logano raced to the biggest win of his career. The victor of "The Great American Race," also known as the Daytona 500, his winnings totaled $1.58 million (Feb., 2015). He's the second-youngest Daytona 500 winner in history, and team owner, Roger Penske, predicted, "Logano will be the top guy for a long time."
Nearly 25-years-old, the stock car racing driver was born on May 24, 1990 in Middletown, CT, the second son of Deborah and Tom Logano. He was the youngest driver ever to win the Nationwide Series race at age 18. Strangely enough, Logano had no roots in racing. His sisters were both accomplished figure skaters and Logano, who thrived on speeding thrills, played hockey through his teen years. As a child, Logano was interested in trucks and cars and accompanied his father driving water-spraying trucks in the sanitation business. He was introduced to race car driving on indoor tracks with a go-kart with roller bars around the pedals so he could reach them.
At age 9, the Logano resume reveals he raced to a win against teen drivers in a 2000 Legends Series event, and three years later, became the youngest driver to compete in the pros and won a national championship. Everyone agreed, Logano, with his raw talent, was a born driver; a teenager who didn't yet weigh 100 pounds. At 14, he was speed-racing against adults at 100+ mph, and was still an unlicensed driver.
He continued to progress to higher levels of racing, and in 2007, when NASCAR made 16-year-olds eligible to compete at the Grand National Level, he raced in a series of events winning three poles and five races. He was crowned Rookie of the Year. In 2008, Logano drove to victory in the Carolina 500 at Rockingham Speedway and went on to make headlines winning races and setting records.
In 2009, Logano won five Nationwide victories and the Rookie of the Year award. Another distinguishing year was 2014 when Logano won five races, and at the Texas Motor Speedway defeated Jeff Gordon. This year, the Daytona 500 Champion still carries the nickname "Sliced Bread" because so many have predicted he would be the next big thing.
