Daily NASCAR

A year after replacing Tony Stewart in the No. 20 car for Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano has made a successful transition to Sprint Cup racing with a win at New Hampshire last season. Now, at 19, many are looking for Logano to improve in the points standings as well. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)

Season No. 2 could be a breakout year for Joey Logano, who won’t turn 20 until May 24. The 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year has finished fifth and sixth in the past two races.

Don’t look now, but Logano, a Middletown, Conn., native, is eighth in the Sprint Cup point standings, ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (12th) and Denny Hamlin (22nd).

"I feel more excited to come to the race tracks is what it comes down to," said Logano. "Last year it was, ‘oh, boy, California, we stunk there last time.’ I don’t know if I want to go there. Now, you look at these places, and you’re excited to go back to the track because you think you’re going to have a good race car.

"I’m more pumped up about coming to the race track. I think that’s the biggest deal, me knowing what I want. It’s the biggest (learning) curve I’ve ever taken …"

Logano was still in grade school when Mark Martin began telling whoever would listen that the kid was going to be a star. One hears such stories quite often in NASCAR, but most fall short of such heady forecasts. Logano, so far, has passed every test on his way to the top.

Logano’s one Sprint Cup victory - New Hampshire Motor Speedway, June 26, 2009 - was something of an anomaly, greatly aided by a timely rain shower that cut the race short. He wound up finishing 20th in the point standings, with the victory, three top-five finishes and seven top 10s.

It’s obvious: Logano is starting to "get it."

"It’s a gradual deal," he said. "It’s not like a light switch. I remember last year at this point. Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin) were telling me something, or Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) was telling me something, and I couldn’t make sense of it in my mind.

As I kept going with time, and kept thinking about what they said to me when I was on the race track, I’d think about it and then, eventually, I made sense of it."

Early results this year have raised the bar on expectations.

"I think it’s cool," said Logano. "I’m excited. Eighth in points … and last year I would have been happy with 20th in points at this point in the season.

"I wished they’d start the Chase now, but we have a long way to go."

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Start-and-park teams were the talk of the week after NASCAR confiscated the #66 Prism Motorsports car for a post-race inspection. The sanctioning body inspected the car in the garage at Las Vegas to allow the team to qualify for Sunday’s race. In sponsorship news, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing picked up McDonald’s for 11 races this season with Jamie McMurray. The team said the deal had been in the works for some time. And finally, legendary NASCAR crew chief J.C. ‘Suitcase Jake’ Elder died this week at 73. Elder, who worked and won with some of the sport’s most prolific drivers, had been in failing health since a stroke in 2006. This is the NASCAR week that was February 21 to 27, 2010.

Pennzoil launches new product, but is Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing part of its NASCAR future?

Remembering the brilliance of ‘Suitcase Jake’

KHI reaches back in time with West Coast pipeline

What have you done for me lately?

Questions arise over start-and-park cars

Vintage Insiders

Moonlighting

The Race Track Gourmet

**Remember if you have a NASCAR blog or website and would like a recent article you wrote featured in this section email me and you could be part of next week’s NASCAR Week That Was. Please only send stuff you have written.**

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It was announced Wednesday that effective immediately, Todd Parrott would be replacing Drew Blickensderfer as crew chief for Matt Kenseth.  The Crown Royal team finished eighth at Daytona, and I think the move has surprised some fans and maybe even some media folks.  But with what happened last season, and what it took the 17 team to finish eighth at Daytona, the move might not be so shocking.

It’s been well documented that Kenseth and Blickensderfer got off to one hell of a start in 2009.  In their first two races together, the duo scored two wins; Daytona and California.  After those first two though, the team struggled for most of the rest of the season and failed to make the Chase.  It was the first time in the Chase era that Kenseth wasn’t a part of NASCAR’s playoffs.

Fast forward to the 2010 season and this weekend’s Daytona 500.  In the race he’d won just one year earlier, Kenseth struggled mightily with the handling of his car.  He did however manage to bring home a top ten finish with the aid of a few green-white-checkered restarts and some good pit crew work.  But, as they say, it was no picnic.

Over the course of the race, the 17 team made a number of changes to the car to help the handling including wedge adjustments, air pressure, track bar, a shim change, spring rubbers, and finally, a shock change!  Not exactly how you hope one of these races goes.

In the Cup Series, especially for a team that expects to contend for the Championship every year, the setup of the car has got to be pretty close when the green flag drops.  To make that many changes during the race, including two new front shocks is not good.  By the time Sunday rolls around, the setup should only require small tweaks to keep up with the changing conditions during the race.  Wholesale changes, like those that it took to get the Crown Royal Ford competitive, make Blickensderfer look incompetent.

I believe last year’s performances, together with how the Daytona 500 played out for Kenseth & Co. spelled the end for Blickensderfer.  It was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back.”  Something tells me the meeting with Mr. Roush this week was not so pleasant.  And crew chief changes after a situation like this are not necessarily something new for “The Cat in the Hat.”

The whole thing really is a shame too, because as bad as it looks for Blickensderfer, he is not an incompetent crew chief.  You don’t win in the Nationwide Series and the Cup Series for Jack Roush if you don’t know what you’re doing.  But obviously something just wasn’t clicking between driver and crew chief and it was time to make a change.

This weekend at California Speedway
While this weekend’s stop in Fontana, CA is usually not an anticipated one for fans and the teams (see California Doesn’t Deserve A Cup Date), I think this Sunday’s Cup race will be an intriguing one to watch.

The Daytona 500 is always a bit of a crap shoot, and often, teams that might not be contenders can find a way to run well.  You can thank the restrictor plates for that.

But this race should be a fairly good litmus test for who might really be strong this year.  Plenty of teams think they’ve made the necessary changes to compete again (see RCR, RFR) and this weekend will be their first opportunity show it.

California will be the first of many speedway races that will be run this season, and it’s tracks like this that will make or break a driver’s season.  If you can’t run well at places like this, you can’t expect to finish well in the points.

Is Dale Jr. actually on the rise?  Will the down teams from last year come back?  Will Jimmie run away with a fifth straight Cup?  Sunday’s Auto Club 500 will be our first opportunity to start piecing together the puzzle that is the 2010 season.

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Working in racing is unlike anything I’ve ever done previously.  It seems like all the rules that apply to normal jobs and job searching are completely irrelevant.  Resumes aren’t as important as your reputation.  There are no job boards or websites.  Sometimes you can get hired without ever even meeting a crew chief.  What your past experience and achievements are don’t matter as much as what you can do right now, today.  And job offers are sometimes only valid for a few hours.

Movement and turnover happen in every business and industry in this country, and racing is no different.  Some guys are able to find a home and stay there for many years, while others seem to work for a new team every season.  But at some point, we all come to that crossroads.

As a young tire changer, all you are looking for is a chance.  And if you are smart, you will pit anything and everything you can.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Cup car or a go cart; or if you are making a few hundred bucks or doing it for free.  The only way to advance is to learn on the fly and make a ton of connections.  But as you move along in your career, the priorities change.  Is winning more important then money?  Can I have both?  What is best for my family?  Is there any semblance of job security with a new team (there never really is)?

And as we move along, we all get to that point where we’ve got to take a chance and make a move.  Just like anything else, sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.  And it doesn’t matter whether you are working for a team currently and a better opportunity comes along, or if you lost your job and are mulling a few different options.  In racing, you better not mull too long.  Because if you wait and hope to maybe get more offers, or you aren’t sure what is the best path, you might get left behind.

I think for most folks, having somebody offer you a job out of the blue isn’t usually realistic.  I know before I worked in racing, nobody ever called me up one day and said “hey, you want to come to work for me?”  The only jobs I was ever offered were those I applied for.  Racing is different though.  All it takes is one phone call to change everything.

But just like every other decision in life, you’ve got to think on your feet, weigh your options, and make the best possible choice with the information you have to work with.  Beyond that, all we can do is hope for a little luck.

2010
Just as a little side note, I want to say that I’ve been blessed and am really excited to be heading out for another year in racing.  The season officially kicks off this weekend, and both myself and Journo are excited about bringing you along for the ride in 2010.  We think we offer something you can’t find anywhere else in the NASCAR media, and we will keep bringing you the best in inside information and insight.  Enjoy the races!

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Jimmie Johnson (shown here preparing for last February’s Gatorade Duels at Daytona) has somehow managed to overperform while remaining underrated. (Photo: Getty Images)

How can a driver who has done what no one else ever has … still be underrated?

Jimmie Johnson’s statistics are mind-boggling. In eight years, he has never finished worse than fifth in the Sprint Cup standings. By almost every measure, Johnson has been NASCAR’s best driver over the span of his career.

"I am just blown away by the things we’ve been able to accomplish over the last eight years in the sport," he said. "Obviously the last four years have been just unbelievable. To love the sport like I do and respect it like I do … to have done something that’s never been done in the sport before is so, so amazing and something I am so proud of.

"I’ve always set my marks high … but I had no clue this stuff would happen."

After four consecutive years as NASCAR’s most successful driver, isn’t it about time Johnson received due notice for his greatness?

The television announcers practically hyperventilate while describing the breathtaking exploits of Kyle Busch, already legendary, at age 24, for his ability to "save the car." Busch, who won four races last year, seems forever on the edge. He can save a car, in part, because he gets so much practice.

Busch didn’t make the Chase last year. Johnson won his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship. No one has ever done that, dating back to the origin of the series in 1949. Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt won more total championships, seven each, only Johnson has won four in as many years.

Johnson isn’t cocky or prone to bragging. His modesty practically nauseates his detractors. He doesn’t, however, apologize for his success.

"I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position," he said. "So has Chad (Knaus, his crew chief), and so has Rick (Hendrick, the owner). It’s not that we backed into any of this. It’s not that it just happened. We’ve gone out and worked really, really hard and have dedicated our lives to it, and it’s paid off."

Over the course of Johnson’s career, he has won nearly twice as many races as any other driver. The top 10 in 2002-09 victories were: Johnson 47, Tony Stewart 25, Jeff Gordon 24, Kurt Busch 20, Matt Kenseth 17, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards 16, Biffle 14 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman with 13.

At the foundation of Johnson’s success is his relationship with Knaus, the brilliant, sometimes abrasive and supremely confident crew chief. It would be hard to describe them as buddies. Their friendship is one of mutual respect.

"We get mad at each other, there’s no doubt about it," said Knaus, "but I think that is part of the dynamic we’ve got. Jimmie is obviously typically very mellow, which counters my aggressiveness. When he starts to get upset and we get in the race car and we get in the race, I try very hard to maintain a level head and a calm mentality, and I think that that helps with Jimmie. … But most of the time he typically doesn’t get too anxious."

"We’ve been able to balance each other out over the years," said Johnson. "I think there’s a level of where he’ll see me upset, and, ‘OK, got to put the brakes on this’."

Johnson has been paired with Knaus for his entire Cup career. As was the case with Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham a decade earlier, together they seem head and shoulders over the rest of the sport.

"If we can keep it rolling, if we were able to do it a fifth year, even if it doesn’t come next year …we’ve got a lot of racing left in us," said Johnson.

Drivers usually last longer than crew chiefs, though. The burnout factor seems greater. Knaus has suggested that he will move on as Evernham once did before him.

"The thing is, this sport is so, so difficult," said Knaus. "It’s a grueling, non-forgiving sport, it really is. … There are no concessions. Nobody is going to give you anything in this industry."

Eventually, Johnson will probably have to prove he can do it without Knaus. His departure is probably at least a few years away. When Gordon and Evernham parted, the eventual result was that Gordon declined from dominant to merely successful. He won a championship in 2001 with Robbie Loomis, not Evernham, running the operation.

As is the case with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon, Johnson’s place in history is secure. For four years, Johnson has been more successful than anyone in NASCAR history, and he’s got a good chance of extending his streak further into the record book.

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