Meet Dylan Kwasniewski, the youngest winner in NASCAR

Dylan Kwasniewski celebrates his first career win in Saturday's K&N West Series race
at Colorado National Speedway. Credit: Justin Edmond/Getty Images for NASCAR

Move over Joey Logano, there is a new kid in town and his name is one of the toughest to pronounce in NASCAR. Dylan Kwasniewski (pronounced Quiz ne ski) is just 16 years old but already making a name for himself.

Who is Dylan Kwasniewski, you ask? Dylan K, as people refer to him, is originally from Norwalk, Conn. At the age of 5, he jumped into the seat of a go-kart and won his first race. He quickly became hooked on racing.

In 2000, his parents made the decision to move the family to Phoenix so he could polish his skills at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association, an asphalt track with a variety of turns. In 2002, he won the Kid Kart Championship.

By 2003 he had moved into the competitive Cadet Junior 1 class and continued to dominate the local go-kart races finishing 3rd at the end of his rookie season. In 2005, after competing in IKF and STARS, Kwasnieski won the title of SKUSA SuperNats Champion.

After winning the championship, his parents moved once again to further his racing career, this time heading to to Las Vegas so Dylan could compete in the INEX Bandolero Bandit Division. He won 88% of his races in his 2007 rookie year.

Dylan K decided he wanted to move on to bigger and faster cars. In 2008, while still living in Vegas, he started competing in Legend cars. He won 10 races and finished in the Top 3 in 60% of the races he was entered.

In 2010, while juggling school, he had decided to enter a few different series. He started in the ASA SpeedTruck Series, had a limited late model schedule, and started racing in the Lucas Oil/Rockstar Modified Series.

2011 has already been an interesting year for the 16-year-old. He entered the NASCAR K&N West Series in the second race of the season and his 4th place finish didn’t surprise anyone.

Just a few weeks ago, Kwasniewski made history. After leading 149 of 152 laps in his No. 3 Rockstar/Royal Purple Ford at Colorado National Speedway, he became the youngest winner in the 57 year history of the K&N Pro Series West, a record that was previously held by Joey Logano. At the time, Logano was just 16 years old, 10 months. He also became the youngest winner in the K&N Pro Series overall, which was originally held by Darrel Wallace Jr., who was 16 years, five months. Kwasnieski is just over two months past his 16th birthday.

Keep an eye out on this kid. He is quickly knocking on the door of NASCAR.