LOUDON, N.H. (June 28, 2009) - Nineteen-year-old rookie Joey Logano earned his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) win in just his 20th NSCS start in Sunday's rain-shortened race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Logano's crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, kept the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 20 Home Depot driver on-track while others pitted before persistent rain forced NASCAR to call the race after 273 (of 301) laps were complete.
"I never thought I would be the one," said Logano, following the race. "It kind of bit us in Charlotte -- we had the same opportunity to do this and we didn't do it. This was the opportunity we had and we didn't have anything to lose. Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) made a great call. I have to thank Home Depot, I have to thank Sprint and all the fans and Toyota. This is a dream come true and this is the best race track that we ever could have had it at."
With the win, Logano became the youngest winner in series history at 19 years, one month and four days. The win also marks the 15th Cup Series victory for Toyota and the 14th win for Joe Gibbs Racing in a Camry.
The victory is a special one for both driver and crew chief with both being from the northeastern region. Logano grew up in Middletown, Conn., while Zipadelli calls East Haddam, Conn., home.
"This is so special. I think your first win no matter where it's at is huge," added Logano. "Obviously it's not the way you want to win your first race -- in the rain -- but 20 years down the road when you look in the record books, no one will know the difference. I'll take them any way I can. This is my home track and where I watched my first Cup race. And Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief), all of the guys, a lot of the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing are from the northeast, so it's cool to get a win here."
Logano started 24th and was forced to make a pit stop after his Camry was involved in an accident which cut down his left rear tire and he spun out. He came back from a lap down and was one of a handful of drivers to stay out and conserve fuel to earn the victory.
"It was a crazy day, but half of this sport is about putting yourself in position to have a chance to win on Sunday afternoon, and you know, that's what we did today and everything went our way," said Zipadelli, following the race. "It's nothing more than that. We were lucky, but we put ourselves in position because we were behind. Because we did have the problems, it allowed us to pit, top off with fuel and do some of the things that the guys up front that were guarding their track position, which is pretty normal here. Just to be able to put ourselves in that position and be here in Loudon, victory lane, there's not many better places."
Two additional Camry drivers logged top-10 finishes in today's race - David Reutimann (fourth) and Kyle Busch (seventh).
Other Toyota finishers included Denny Hamlin (15th), Marcos Ambrose (23rd), Michael Waltrip (24th), Robby Gordon (25th), Brian Vickers (35th), Scott Speed (36th), Joe Nemechek (39th), Dave Blaney (42nd) and Patrick Carpentier (43rd).
Six Camry drivers currently rank in the top-25 in the unofficial NSCS point standings -- Hamlin (sixth), Busch (eighth), Reutimann (14th), Vickers (17th), Ambrose (18th) and Logano (21st).
The next race on the Sprint Cup schedule is at Daytona International Speedway, July 4.
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