Remember when a 19-year-old kid nicknamed “Sliced Bread” took over for Tony Stewart aboard the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota?
What about the part where he didn’t live up to expectations and was kicked to the curb three years later?
Well, that kid was recently named one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers and is chasing his third NASCAR Cup Series title.
Talk about a 180-degree career pivot.
How did the Connecticut native become one of NASCAR’s greatest racers?
It all began with a lightning-fast start and a humbling kick in the pants along the way.
Starting in quarter midgets, Logano was racing Legend Cars at age 9 and late models when he was 12.
He enjoyed massive success early in his career. Enough so to catch the eye of NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who once said Logano could be one of the “greatest that ever raced in NASCAR.”
Logano was 15 years old at the time.
That led to a developmental deal with Joe Gibbs Racing, where Logano shined in ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series competition.
“I was pretty successful through all those years, where I didn’t have to work super hard on my craft, at least,” Logano told SPEED SPORT. “I just would show up and win races.”
Then, came a handful of mediocre seasons in the Cup Series, where despite winning a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during his rookie year, Logano failed to make the NASCAR playoffs.
“Then, you get to the top level in Cup, where you get the slice of humble pie, or the kick in the ass, whatever you want to call it,” Logano said. “That dose of reality that brings you back down. You kind of start to realize that you’re not as good as what you think you are; and you start to go to work and figure it out.”
Logano’s lack of results forced JGR to look for a new driver. Thus, midway through the 2012 season, Matt Kenseth was announced as Logano’s replacement for the next season.
“I mean, now I look at it as the best blessing of my life,” Logano admitted. “But I just didn’t see it at the moment. That’s what made it so hard is because, like you said, I grew up winning so much and then all of a sudden, I got beat down for three years in Cup at that point.”
The news broke prior to the June stop at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway.
“This weekend was so big, because it’s when it became public, ‘I’m out,’” Logano recalled. “I was out looking for something.”
Without knowing what the future held, Logano let his driving do the talking.
“We came here, put it on the pole, won the race,” Logano said at Pocono earlier this year. “That was the most pivotal win of all time.”
While the victory was vital, the hard part was finding a new opportunity.
“I was in a tough spot, because really, in my mind, I was thinking, ‘Geez, what am I gonna do? Am I going to be a race car driver? I don’t have a backup plan, what am I going to do the rest of my life?’