Joey Logano wins the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona!

Joey Logano didn’t lead Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250 until the final half mile, but that was all the 21-year-old driver of the No. 20 Toyota needed to notch his first victory at Daytona International Speedway.

As the action in Turn 4 on the final lap unfolded behind him, Logano surged into the lead and held off a charge from Kyle Busch and Jason Leffler to win his first Nationwide Series race of the season and the ninth of his career.

Logano took the checkered flag as many of the cars that had led taking the white flag, including those of Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler — wrecked behind him. Joey Logano had to block teammate Kyle Busch then along came Jason Leffler to nearly steal the win away from Logano. Joey Logano finished .040 seconds ahead of the runner-up Jason Leffler.

“Any time we’ve hooked up like that we’ve been pretty successful,” Logano said of his pairing with Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. “Usually, I’m the guy that’s finished second – unfortunately — but this time I am the winner, so I’m pretty pumped up about that. This is a huge win for me for a lot of reasons.”

Struggles in the Sprint Cup Series and whispers that his job might be in jeopardy haven’t escaped Logano’s notice, but he has tried to keep those concerns in the background.

“Those aren’t things that make the car go faster,” Logano said in explaining why he can’t afford to worry about them.

Joey Logano is too talented and still very young, no way Joe Gibbs Racing gives up on the young phenom already–the results and wins will come for Logano.

Danica Patrick ran a great race all night, she was near the front working with Tony Stewart for the first part of the race and teammate Aric Almirola for the latter part of the race. Patrick took the lead taking the white flag but lost it quickly as Mike Wallace came up the track to block her, causing a chain reaction melee taking the checkered flag with sparks and cars flying everywhere. Patrick went on to finish the race in the 10th position.

Here is the rest of the running order for tonight’s Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona:

NASCAR Nationwide Series Race Number 17
Unofficial Race Results for the 10Th Annual Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered
By Coca-Cola – Friday, July 1, 2011
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL – 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 100 Laps – 250 Miles – Purse: $1,245,702