Even as Joey Logano was being interviewed as the winner of NASCAR’s Toyota All Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway, he was looking over his shoulder at NASCAR’s newest phenomenon, Sergio Pena.

The sixteen year old Pena gave Logano a run for his money most of the race, either locked onto Logano’s back bumper or racing him side by side lap after lap.  And in his first time ever being on that particular race track, Pena managed to hold on to finish right behind the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

“It’s just an honor to run with Logano,” Pena said.  “He has been a role model for me for so long.  A young Cup driver, what kid doesn’t look up to that?”

Pena, racing under the Drive for Diversity banner, had to compete against three of his other D4D colleagues in order to even make his way into the Showdown.  He then went on to score the pole position for the race, starting right next to Joey Logano, who sat on the outside pole.

Pena kept pace with Logano, showing great poise and confidence in racing the Cup driver door to door.  The only time that Pena struggled was during the restarts, where his lack of experience shown through.

“Initially on the restarts, it was easy to beat Pena and I didn’t have to do nothing,” Logano said.  “But as I kept going I had to pull out all my tricks and try to find a little bit here and there to get him on the restarts.”

“I knew that from the first lap of this race I would have my hands full the whole time.”

Pena, who is from Winchester, Virginia, is a relative newcomer to the world of stock car racing.  His background has primarily been in the world of karting and open wheel racing.

In his first season in a late model car, Pena won six races and rookie of the year honors at Shenandoah Speedway in Virginia.  He also competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model races at the Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia.

Pena’s stock career took wing when he participated in the annual Drive for Diversity Combine in October 2009.  He turned heads at that competition, earning him the opportunity to be invited back for further testing under the Revolution Racing banner later in the year.

"We have been very impressed with Sergio," John Story, President of Revolution Racing, said.  "He showed a lot of speed during the Combine and our evaluation process that followed throughout October and November.”

Story, along with Max Siegel, has totally reorganized the Drive for Diversity Program to form Revolution Racing, a team that features nurturing diverse drivers at the developmental series within the sport.  The sole goal of the newly reorganized effort is to bring a driver from a diverse background to NASCAR’s highest level.

Another critical player in the newly-formed Revolution Racing initiative is Andy Santerre, who has been tapped as Director of Competition for the K & N Pro Series.  Santerre has been the champion of that Series four times and is a well-known mentor to the future stars in the sport.

Santerre was especially instrumental in Pena’s great run in the Showdown.  With his steady Maine twang, Santerre kept his young protégé calm and collected, especially coaching him through the difficult restarts.

And in the end, between Santerre’s sage guidance and Pena’s innate talent, the young driver finished the debut race for Revolution Racing in the second position.   As he climbed from his race car right behind Logano in Victory Lane, gathering bear hugs from his fellow D4D drivers and his father, Pena seemed almost dazed.

“This has been a dream come true, this whole weekend,” Pena said.  “I’m going to carry this over for the rest of the season and for more seasons to come.  This is a good beginning and I just hope it doesn’t slow down at all.”

“Taking second place from Joey Logano is good for me any day.”