RPW Column: Joey Logano & Daniel Sanchez Had More Than One Thing In Common At DIRTcar Nationals Friday Night

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – BARBERVILLE, FL – “That was a blast.”

That was the sentiment of two drivers from two totally different backgrounds Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park…both of whom had the same goal in mind…do the best job possible.

Those drivers were DIRTcar UMP Modified freshman, oh, and former NASCAR Cup Champion, Joey Logano, as well as a former champion at Limaland Motorsports Park, and Upstate New York native, Daniel Sanchez.

For Logano, Friday night was all about gaining experience. What he didn’t realize, however, that in driving from 19th to third in his 15-lap feature, was just how much fun he would have.

“Kyle Strickler told me before this whole thing started to just give them a couple laps because they’re going to crash,” Logano said. “However, I’ve only got one gear and it was to go so I paid the penalty a little bit.”

His car, sitting on the front stretch near victor lane after the race, was a little beat up and worse for wear, but he was still able to get it to the front.

“I don’t know who anybody is out here,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just having fun. That was a blast. To get towards the front with these guys, this was a fun time. To finish third that’s great. We learned a little bit, got a little damage to fix and we’ll come back at it tomorrow (Saturday) night.”

Sanchez, as well, was also making his first feature start during the DIRTcar Nationals. However, his trials and tribulations weren’t just from one night. Due to a magnitude of issues, and learning with each lap that went by, Sanchez hadn’t been able to make a feature at Volusia so far.

With the format the way it was Friday night, officials set it so that it was a night of features…five to be exact. Each driver made a race and Sanchez took full advantage of it, missing several wrecks in his feature go and drove from 18th to fifth.

“We’ve been struggling all week,” Sanchez said. “We’ve had a spindle break when I was qualified one night and Thursday had a flat right rear tire in our heat that put us behind. Being mired deep in points down here, that put us further back than I wanted to be in our feature tonight.”

That didn’t stop the youngster from Illinois by way of Upstate New York from powering his family-owned #463 towards the front.

“To drive up to fifth and miss the wrecks we did was just what we needed,” he said. “We showed some speed and pass some cars late, and all around have made great strides here this week. This was just a blast. It was a good night for our team.”