Some may have been taken aback by his meteoric rise in midget racing, but Seavey credits his experience in the outlaw karts for his success.
“They are so hard to drive,” he said. “Even though a midget or sprint car is faster, the power-to-weight ratio and how quickly a kart reacts, is incomparable. So after you have that experience everything else is slower. That comes into play and so do the race tracks we get to race on. You take quarter midgets and they pretty much run the bottom at every track. In outlaw karts we really have to search around, find grip and find speed. That’s what you have to do with a midget and a sprint car.
“That is something you had to learn at an early age if you wanted to be successful in outlaw karts and I think that helps with the transition to all forms of dirt racing.”
It would have been easy to conclude that the success of the 2018 season might have led to more opportunities for Seavey in the various NASCAR ranks. In the end, Seavey takes his cue from the leaders at Toyota Racing Development.
Like so much in this sport, it is a waiting game and while he admits that it is frustrating at times, he feels as if he is on familiar turf.
“It’s what I am used to in dirt racing,” he said. “You try to find rides and at times things fall through, but I am used to last-minute deals. It’s what you do in the sport.”
The one mantra that has been drummed in him is that if you win races, things take care of themselves. On the USAC midget trail, Tyler Courtney and his Clauson-Marshall Racing team have been nearly unstoppable, leaving Seavey as the series runner-up.
Despite falling short of their ultimate goal, team owner Keith Kunz feels Seavey has only gotten better.
With a laugh, Kunz said, “It would have been even more successful if Tyler Courtney wasn’t having one of those phenomenal years. He is just getting it done no matter what he is in.”
Still, what may have flown slightly under the radar is what Seavey accomplished over the course of the POWRi season. In mid-October, he snared his 12th victory of the season, snapping the five-year-old single-season victory record held by Christopher Bell.
Seavey also picked up three sprint car triumphs, including an AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series victory at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway.
On the basis of wins alone, it was Seavey’s best year.
While a host of factors help a driver get in the groove, Seavey believes a critical ingredient to his results has been his crew chief, Connor Ridge.
“He has pushed me to be better,” Seavey said, “and we are learning together. It is really good right now.”
Kunz noted, “It took a little off of me, so I could spend a little more time with the younger kids. With Logan being the seasoned veteran of the team, it was easy to put him with Connor and still have success. They mesh well together. They have that vibe.”
One of the goals that looms ahead is the Chili Bowl, now the unquestioned granddaddy of all midget races and clearly one of the most significant events in the land.
Seavey likes his chances and knows what success there can do for a driver’s reputation, despite the fact that this time, he’ll be with a different team in Swindell SpeedLab.
“The Chili Bowl is really big,” Seavey noted. “Last year, we got a preliminary win and it kind of solidifies that you are a good midget racer. You know where the bar is when you race a KKM car. You have to go there and run well, or you look really bad. They (KKM) have won like the last five Chili Bowls.
“I don’t know if it is pressure or self-expectations, but I think after three years of midget racing and two with Keith, I feel like there is no reason to go there and not be competitive.”
One could understand it if Brown would have grown weary of watching Seavey accept another trophy as a POWRi winner over the course of the past summer.
Instead, he relishes the thought of another driver passing through his series and, perhaps, becoming a headliner like Larson and Bell.
Even more than his talent in the race car, Brown likes the young man he sees.
“He is a super person,” Brown said. “He is very appreciative, content and quiet. He is a true guy that started with nothing. He didn’t pay for a ride, instead he was given rides based off of his talent.”