2009 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SCHEDULE

Sat., July 4, Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400, Starting time: 6:30 p.m. (EDT): TV: TNT

the entire 2009 schedule

LOGANO GETS FIRST CUP WIN

By Gerald Hodges/the Racing Reporter

LOUDON, N.H.—Nineteen year-old Joey Logano won Sunday’s rain-shortened Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Speedway to become the youngest driver to ever win a Cup race.

   With skies threatening, Logano’s crew chief, Greg Zippadelli decided to keep his driver on the track as long as possible, even during green-flag stops. He conserved fuel and was in the lead as the rains came, ending the race after 273 of the scheduled 301 laps.

   “We didn’t have anything to lose,” said Logano. “It was our opportunity and we took advantage of it. It was a great call by “Zippy.” We saved just enough fuel to make it here.

   “This is my home track so it makes it all that more special.”

   Logano is from nearby Middletown, CT.

   During a restart on lap 176, Kyle Busch got into the back of Martin Truex causing a 14-car pileup that sent eight cars to the garage for repairs. The cars that had to go to the garage included, Truex, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, and David Ragan.

   NASCAR red flagged the race immediately after the big wreck so speedway workers could clean up the mess of debris and metal on the front straightaway.

   “I guess Kyle just didn’t want to wait,” said Truex, who was not able to return to the race.

   Jeff Burton was another one of the cars knocked out of the race.

   “We didn’t do anything wrong today,” he said. “We didn’t cause the wreck. We had about as fast a car as anyone out here. When you have aggressive racing, you’re going to have wrecks and that’s what we had today.”

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Additional Story: Don't Mess With an Old Time chicken Farmer

Gerald Hodges/the Racing

Reporter has covered NASCAR racing since 1994. He was the only photojournalist to cover all three NASCAR races in Japan, and currently has a syndicated newspaper column.

In addition to being a professional photographer, he is an instructor at the Univ. of South Alabama

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To its fans, the supermodifieds were the "Golden

Age" of racing. It began on short dirt tracks and

moved to super fast asphalt speedplants. The

competitors "run-what-they-brung." It evolved

into souped up, methanol, big-bore engines that

produced exciting wheel to wheel racing. It was

the day of speed without safety. Though they only

lasted a few years, before giving way to the

modern day Sprints, those early contests were

wild and sometimes disorganized.

But how the fans loved to watch their favorite hero, whether it was Armond Holley, Ellis Palasini, Red

Farmer, Bobby or Donnie Allison, Gene Tapia, Jim Cushman, Billy Yuma, Hooker Hood, Ival Cooper,

Wayne Niedecken, Herman Wise, Bill Roynon, Jim Gresley, Rat Lane, Wayne McGuire, or Jimmy and

Frank Riddle, do battle, and maybe afterwards have

a beer with him.

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They called him, "King of the Supermodifieds," but Gene Tapia wouldn't accept the title. "Never be ugly to a child because they won't ever forget it," he said.

Tapia was destined for a life of adventure. A U.S. Marine Raider who fought the Japanese on Guadalcanal, hit the beaches at Guam on Day One, and spent 35 days of hell on Iwo Jima

When he returned to the States in 1946, his nerves were shot. In 1947, he discovered automobile racing, and that is what brought him back to a real life.

But he had one last almost lifelong adventure. He and his wife spent over 40 years searching for their stolen baby.

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