Open Heart Surgery Doesn't Stop Determined Chili Bowl Racer

Being a driver at the Chili Bowl takes a lot of heart, and one rising racing star is showing just that. 

"Next thing I know, my brother has a race car, and a couple years later I got a race car, five years old," said Logan Seavey.

Logan Seavey may not have been racing his whole life, but it's about as close as you can get.

The Sutter, California native rocketed his way up the racing ranks and was a part of his first Chili Bowl last year.

"That was one of my first major races I ever ran, was this race last year, which is a tough race to show up and not really have any experience, so I didn't run very good last year," Seavey said.

Logan finished 12th in the E feature in 2017. He was disappointed with the result, but maybe he should cut himself a little slack.

Just less than four months prior, he had open heart surgery.

"I was getting tired real quickly in the car, and I knew I needed to fix it if I was going to perform at my highest potential," Seavey said.

He was just 19 years old.

Where before, he would struggle for breath driving and even in conversation, now, he said he feels better than ever.

"Life's good. I'm on the best team I can be with and everything's going good," Seavey said.

This year, he's a part of juggernaut Keith Kunz Motorsports. This is just the latest highlight in a year that saw him win two races, 18 top 10's, and win the POWRi national championship and rookie of the year award.

"Driving them hard, but keeping under control is really big for me, so I'm still learning how to run harder and harder," he said.

But he's got high hopes for the future.

"I just like to race as much as I can and try to be able to do this as my job," Seavey said.