Logano on straight track to success

Middletown (WTNH) - He seems to be on the fast truck to big-time success on the NASCAR circuit.

And Joey Logano is just 19 years old. Adding to the uniqueness of this success story is the fact that he was raised in an area not exactly known for producing NASCAR drivers.

Logano is from Middletown.

He is called 'sliced bread,' as in the greatest thing since.

And consider this,of the more than 50 drivers listed on NASCAR's top circuit, only one is from New England, and he's been eligible to vote for only a year.

The point to all of this? One of biggest spectator sports in the country has a star from one of the smallest states - and it all started at a small track just outside of Middletown.

It's a beautiful thing to witness a dream in its infancy.

"Feels pretty good racing!" Logano said.

Watching a dream take shape is especially captivating with a child. It reminds us anything is possible. Each time 8-year-old Kevin Gudrian dons a black baggy racing suit, his thirst for success is as powerful as the engine propelling his ¼ midget race car.

Dreams of NASCAR triumph are nothing new at the Silver City Track in Meriden.

Ten years ago, there was another wide-eyed child whose talent matched his desire; Middletown's Joey Logano.

In less than a decade, Joey evolved from taming a few horses, to flying with a few hundred. NASCAR'S rookie is only 19, but the gift was there at nine.

"Found something I was good at. I tried the baseball, basketball; I didn't have fun with it, because I wasn't any good at it," Logano said. "Me and my father used to go down there and practice on Wednesday nights. We used to go out there and play around. Go have fun, me and my dad. I knew nothin' about racing, I still no nothin' about racing."

If you don't know anything about racing, you should know this much. There aren't many teenagers, from Connecticut or anywhere else, driving in motor sports' biggest arena; there aren't many teenagers with a major sponsor; and there aren't many teenagers who get their own day.

Sept. 17 is Joey Logano day in Middletown.

For those who argue Connecticut is too far North to care about a Southern-dominated sport, simply ask the 700 people who waited in line to meet the native son with a heavy foot.

Logano's story is the stuff of fairytales. Once upon a time, in land of horsepower, there was a Connecticut Yankee in NASCAR'S court, who truly learned dreams come true.

"Before the Daytona 500, I walked out of pit road, before the race, saw my car is sitting there with my name on it and thought 'Wow! This is it! That's when it actually hit me!'" Logano said.

Back at the track where dreams are born, Kevin's dad tweaks the car, supports the dream. If there are such things as real-life fairy-tales, then Kevin figures the Joey Logano fantasy that started in Connecticut, and has gone nationwide is due for a sequel.

"I want this to go all the way!" Kevin said.