DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 6, 2009) – In a race where there are no
points at stake and the only thing on the line is bragging rights,
Marc Davis will get the chance to even the score with Joey Logano, his
friend and teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, when he heads out to
Irwindale, Calif., in two weeks for the NASCAR Toyota All-Star
Showdown.
"It's going to be a pretty cool experience," said Davis. "I can't wait
to get out there and run it again. It's the Showdown – it's big.
Everybody is going to be there."
Including the defending champion, Logano.
As the initial batch of entries for the prestigious event arrived in
Daytona Beach, Fla. for the race, the names of the two 18-year-old
up-and-coming superstars were among those to first to finalize their
intentions of running in the postseason showcase at the Toyota
Speedway at Irwindale.
The NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown will feature two days of exciting
action Jan. 23-24 among some of the top drivers in NASCAR Camping
World Series and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. The
competition will air live on SPEED beginning at 7 p.m. PT both nights.
"I can't wait to go back," said Logano of returning to the fast,
multi-grooved half-mile track. "I've got the same car and that track
is just a real cool race track. And we had a great time out in
Southern California. I really enjoyed being out there.
"It's pretty much the Daytona 500 of short-track racing, and it would
be awesome to go back and win it again."
Logano knows that returning to Irwindale as the defending race winner
he will carry a big target on his back. And nobody may be gunning for
him more than Davis.
Davis qualified fourth in the last NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown,
starting one row behind his teammate. But carburetor issues that
surfaced at the start of the race quickly put him 16 laps down. Once
he got back on the track, his time was among the leaders but the
opportunity to contend for the win was gone.
"We have a lot to prove this year – being so strong last time and
having nothing to show for it," Davis said. "We're taking the same
baseline as last year. We should be pretty good off the truck and we
have a whole lot of stuff to experiment with and see how the track has
changed."
In his NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown win, Logano led the final 87
laps and held off a fierce challenge from Peyton Sellers on a
green-white-checkered finish.
"In the beginning of the race, we weren't a bolt of lightning," Logano
said. "We made a couple of changes and got it to the front. It was
exciting."
Among those joining Davis on the early entry list looking to dethrone
Logano is three-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron
Hornaday Jr., 2008 NASCAR Camping World Series West champion Eric
Holmes, former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champions
Peyton Sellers and Greg Pursley, and Eddie MacDonald – who swept the
NASCAR Camping World Series East races at New Hampshire last year.
The list of top short-track drivers who have already committed to the
event includes NASCAR Camping World Truck Series veteran Matt Crafton,
2008 NASCAR Camping World Series East champion and 2006 NASCAR Toyota
All-Star Showdown winner Matt Kobyluck, and 2008 NASCAR Canadian Tire
Series champion Scott Steckly.
Also confirmed to compete are four drivers who have earned rookie of
the year honors in the NASCAR Camping World Series in the last three
seasons (Jason Bowles, Sellers, Jeff Barkshire, and Austin Dillon),
and Brian Ickler, winner of the NASCAR Camping World Series
combination race in Iowa this past May.
Champions of each of NASCAR's developmental series earned secured
spots in the event. In addition to Holmes, Kobyluck and Steckly, those
champions include Philip Morris (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series),
Antonio Perez (NASCAR Mexico Series), Ted Christopher (NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour) and Brian Loftin (NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified
Tour).
Logano won the NASCAR Camping World Series East title in 2007 and
became the youngest winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2008. He
is preparing to make his debut in the Daytona 500 at Daytona
International Speedway in February in his brand-new NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series ride, the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.
His first on-track racing action of the 2009 calendar, though, will be
at the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown – where he capped his
breakthrough rookie season in NASCAR in Victory Lane.
Logano won the event in October of 2007. The event has been moved to
January, where it will share the racing weekend with the Grand-Am
Series Rolex Daytona 24. The move provides a break in the monotony of
winter and an opportunity to get back to racing.
"I can't wait to get back into a race car," said Logano, who has got
his racing fix running go-karts against his friends and participating
in the Whelen Bodine Bobsled Challenge at Lake Placid, N.Y. "It's been
a while and I'm just getting antsy to race. It's going to be great to
get back on track at the Showdown."
Davis is coming off a 2008 season in which he finished fifth in points
in the NASCAR Camping World Series East. He led a race-high 57 laps at
Iowa Speedway in the combination race between the NASCAR Camping World
Series East and West.
He also made his debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series.
Davis again plans a mixed schedule of the three national series in
2009, but not before taking care of some unfinished business.
"We had a car to win it last year but came up empty," Davis said.
"We're just going to have to go out there and perform and win it all."
In addition to competition for the NASCAR Camping World Series, which
is NASCAR's top developmental series, action in the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series will feature a Late Model race and a Super Late
Model race.
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