HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. --- Joe Gibbs remembers being a little hesitant the first time he met Joey Logano, days before he was to sign the phenom driver to a development contract with his race team.
"I come from football," the former Washington Redskins coach said Monday. "I'm used to seeing these great big guys, so when you sign them, I'm getting my money's worth.
"I looked across the table, and there was Joey, maybe 5-10, 5-9. I said, 'He's 15. We're going to sign him?' "
Three years later, the rail-thin, 18-year-old Logano has been chosen as the replacement for Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing next year.
"The farther you, go the more you become convinced you've got somebody special," Gibbs said.
With Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup points champion, set to leave JGR after 10 years to become driver-owner of what is now called Haas-CNC racing, Logano will inherit Stewart's sponsor, Home Depot, and his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli.
While Logano has made a successful debut in the second-tier Nationwide Series, with three top-five finishes in nine races, he's yet to drive in a Sprint Cup race.
That didn't stop JGR from signing Logano to a long-term contract and Home Depot from agreeing to a lengthy deal to continue as the primary sponsor of the No. 20 car.
"I'm cool with pressure," he said Monday. "Moving up to this car now, it's more pressure, but I can handle it."
Logano has starred at every level since his father, Tom, strapped him into a go-kart at age 4. That includes his limited time in the Nationwide Series before his call-up from Gibbs.
The driver whom veteran Mark Martin called "the real deal" -- when he was 15 -- finished sixth in his Nationwide debut May 31, a week after he turned 18. He captured the pole in his second race and won his third start, June 14 at Kentucky Speedway, becoming the youngest winner in Nationwide history.
"There were other options, but I think for the long-term and what's in the best interest of JGR, The Home Depot and our whole team, Joey was the guy," said J.D. Gibbs, JGR president and Joe Gibbs' son.
Logano will make his Sprint Cup debut Sept. 6 at Richmond.
JOEY LOGANO
DATE OF BIRTH: May 24, 1990
HOMETOWN: Middletown, Conn.
RESIDES IN: Concord, N.C.
HEIGHT: 6-foot-1
WEIGHT: 140 pounds
YEARS RACING: 15
FAST FACT: Logano became the youngest winner in Nationwide Series history with his victory in the Meijer 300 on June 14.
DID YOU KNOW: His nickname is "Sliced Bread," after former Busch Series driver Randy LaJoie called him "the best thing since sliced bread."
Sources: joegibbsracing.com, joeylogano.com
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