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| Logano #20 and Kenseth #17 Photo – NASCAR.com |
By Martin Czekala
This week, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth are announcing, they will be getting new rides for 2013.
Joey Logano is driving the #22 Penske Ford, replacing the now suspended AJ Allmendinger. Matt Kenseth will take over Loganoʼs spot driving the #20 Joe Gibbs Toyota while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. takes over the #17 car in 2013.
“This is a very unique opportunity,” said Kenseth. According to SPEED.com. Matt will have sponsors Home Depot and Dollar General for his cup car. Kenseth is also hoping to run Nationwide Series races with the team.
In 2000, Kenseth drove his first year with Roush Fenway Racing winning the Coca-Cola 600 as a rookie with crew chief Robbie Reiser. In 2003, Matt won the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series – now Sprint Cup Series – championship for Roush with just one win, beating Jimmie Johnson by 90 points. 2009 was a great start to the season for Kenseth, winning the rain shortened Daytona 500 and then winning the next week at California. 2012 will be his last year with Roush Fenway Racing but he started it off with a Daytona 500 win the second Daytona 500 win of his career. On June 26th this year, Kenseth announced he would part ways with Jack Roush after the 2012 season.
According to a source on ESPN and confirmed by Penske Racing today, Joey Logano will be driving for Roger Penske in the 2013 season full time, replacing AJ Allmendinger. Logano had a deal earlier with J.D. Gibbs, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing, for a part time cup ride and a full time nationwide ride. Apparently, Logano wasn’t interested.
In 2008, Logano made his NASCAR debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Dover just a week after his 18th birthday. A few weeks later, Logano won his first nationwide race at Kentucky, making him the youngest Nationwide Series winner and breaking Casey Atwood’s record. Starting in 2009, Logano raced full time in the Sprint Cup Series driving for Gibbs in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. Logano picked up his first ever series win by winning a rain shortened race at New Hampshire. 2012 will be his last year in the No. 20 car. In June at Pocono, he won his second Sprint Cup race by pulling a bump and run on Mark Martin with just a few laps to go. Logano and Gibbs are parting ways at the end of the season and Matt Kenseth will take over the No. 20 car in 2013.
Matt Kenseth joining Joe Gibbs racing can be a very good addition as he can get them a championship. Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t won a championship since 2005, when Tony Stewart was with the team.
Joey Logano joining Penske Racing is also very good and could be a winning combination with Brad Keselowski as a teammate. Sam Hornish Jr is driving the 22 for the rest of the year, and is doing well in the Nationwide series. Joey might also be the perfect team match up with Hornish in the Nationwide series next year too.
Look for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske Racing to be recharged and energized for 2013.
Fan Blogger, Martin Czekala has been a huge NASCAR fan since 2001. His first NASCAR race was in 2006 at Watkins Glen. Martin started going to Pure Michigan 400 races since 2009 and his favorite drivers are Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Danica Patrick, Trevor Bayne, Austin and Ty Dillon. Fans can follow Martin on google+ as +Martin Czekala
