By Richie Murray
Indianapolis, Indiana (December 15, 2019)………A pairing between a USAC National championship winning driver and team will greet the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car tour as Logan Seavey has agreed to partner up with Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports for a full-time run with the series in 2020.
Seavey, of Sutter, Calif. captured the 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget title and finished as the runner-up to Tyler Courtney during this year’s campaign with three victories and an Indiana Midget Week title under his belt.
The 22-year-old driver joins Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports, who snagged the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car owner championship with driver C.J. Leary in 2019. Last week, Leary announced his plans to race for Gene Gile Racing for 2020.
In turn, Seavey steps into the championship-ready seat as the new driver for the team, although he has plenty of previous experience with the Arizona-based operation.
In 2019, Seavey’s eight starts all came in a second Reinbold/Underwood car, resulting in his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory on the second night of Sprint Car Smackdown VIII at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway in August where he led all 30 laps.
Seavey was 5th the following night during the Smackdown finale and was the fastest qualifier during the Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway in November. Seavey was also victorious in USAC Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint Car competition with Reinbold/Underwood in April of 2019 at Arizona Speedway.
Through the bevy of offseason shuffling, Seavey and Reinbold/Underwood feel their previous experience will allow them to hit the ground running to start the 2020 season in pursuit of a series title.
“Our team chemistry is good,” Seavey relayed. “I’ve been racing with the team for a little over a year and we’ve run 20 or so races together, so that’s a big start. I’ve already run a couple of USAC seasons, so I’ve been to a lot of the racetracks we’re going to and raced against pretty much every guy we’re going to be racing against next year. We’re definitely not starting from scratch by any means. I think we’ll come out of the gate good and compete for a championship.”
Seavey’s made just 21 career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car starts but has been impressive in limited appearances. His efforts in 2018 resulted in being named the series co-Rookie of the Year along with Timmy Buckwalter. It’s those intangibles that Seavey possesses that team co-owner Andy Reinbold sought in his decision to put the talented driver in the seat of his No. 19AZ.
“He brings a lot of qualities, but the best is the car control that he has,” Reinbold said of Seavey. “He understands what it takes to win a championship, but our primary goal is to win races. We ran limited sprint car races together in the big scheme of things compared to what I have back west with other people, myself, with C.J. and Davey Jones. That experience is what it takes to win championships and we’re both like-minded in wanting to win races. That’s our primary goal. Every race, we want to be there to compete.”
“We’re thrilled to provide Logan his first opportunity to chase a USAC National Sprint Car title,” Reinbold continued. “We’re into the development of racecar drivers and can’t wait to see first-hand how Logan develops throughout this coming season.”
The 2020 season openers for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship begin in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. Midgets hit the track for practice on Feb. 6 with two full nights of racing to follow on Feb. 7-8. The sprints take their turn the following week with practice on Feb. 12 and three-straight nights of full racing programs on Feb. 13-14-15.