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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Oh to be a track promoter right now. Yeah I know times are tough and people aren’t buying tickets like they used to, but a gift has landed on their doorsteps. That gift is of course Danica Patrick and you better believe every track operator on the Nationwide schedule is crossing their fingers she graces their facility.

With the very careful rollout of Patrick, JR Motorsports and her handlers are doing their best to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. How well Patrick does on track at the moment though is irrelevant.

In attendance at JR Motorsports Thursday was New Hampshire Motor Speedway GM Jerry Gappens. He was a man on a mission too. With a lobster in tow he was looking to attract Patrick to race at NHMS in June. Gappens certainly isn’t alone.

How excited do you think Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway, is? She might have the sports’ newest and most exciting driver debut at her facility. That’s a boost California (the speedway) could certainly use. Where better to debut Patrick (if they choose to do so) than in the second largest media market with no other distractions?

Now I know many of you are already getting sick of Danicamania (get used to it), but aren’t you the least bit interested in how she runs? I know I am. I’ve heard the Disney World test was promising. Certainly the ARCA test will be at least a little bit of an indicator.

This interest in Patrick can only increase interest in the sport. As I see it, that’s not a bad thing. While I can’t say I agree with his analogy Jerry Gappens thinks so too.

“I think she can do for our sport what Hannah Montana did for Disney,” [Gappens] said. “I’ve got a 9-year-old daughter [Ella] who already was like, ‘Danica Patrick is going to race at your place?’ I told her I was going to try [to get her to], and she was very excited about that.

Hannah Montana? I don’t know about that, but more eyes can’t be bad. More ticket sales can’t be bad either.

I’ll be honest I’m a Danica skeptic, but I hope she does well. She has a lot of detractors, but she will definitely bring some fresh blood into the sport.

Can the reality meet the hype? We’ll have to see. But until then track promoters are certainly going to be taking this to the bank.

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Denny Hamlin rode shotgun with a fickle Lady Luck this season. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)

A collection of off-beat and occasionally insightful remarks from the 2009 NASCAR season, compiled by Monte Dutton:

"When we used to run the 600, it was a six-hour race. It took all cotton-pickin’ day." - Richard Petty, on Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s Coca-Cola 600.

"We’ve more or less been talking around here about what kind of animal we need to sacrifice to get the finishes we deserve." - Scott Speed, joking (we hope).

"It’s like walking a tightrope for 500 miles and holding your breath the whole time. No other track is like that." - Greg Biffle, on Bristol.

"You can be aggressive or you can be conservative; either approach can be good or bad. And I don’t believe one approach works better than the other." - Jeff Gordon.

"It’s a free market of sorts. If you have the equipment and you meet the qualifications, come run with us." - Jimmie Johnson.

"Man, you all are too hard on him. It is, like, if somebody wrecks him, it is the end of the world. If he wrecks somebody, it is the end of the world. You know, give the guy a break. Everybody makes mistakes." - Martin Truex, referring to coverage of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"When I got a stock car team, I pretty much eliminated wanting to do anything outside of NASCAR for quite a while. When you start becoming an owner in a NASCAR team, you kind of have to pay attention to that." - Tony Stewart.

"They are not kidding when they say it’s like a bullring." - Australian driver Marcos Ambrose, on BMS.

"Another thing people may not know about me is that I have a strong sense of humor." - David Reutimann.

"I’m not a real ‘good-luck charm’ kind of guy. … I don’t like four-leaf clovers. I had one given to me at North Wilkesboro years ago, and I was wrecked on the pace lap." - Mark Martin.

"Pressure is part of the sport. It’s part of any sport. There’s pressure to do anything. We’re just in a pressure business." - Joey Logano.

"It’s more fear than anything: that I’m going to have to get a real job if I’m not successful." - Stewart, on why he’s been successful in a variety of series.

"Junior is good at dealing with pressure because he walks around with the weight of NASCAR on his shoulders every day." - Martin, referring to Earnhardt Jr.

"To me, you just have to go like hell and try as hard as you can every single lap, because track position is so important." - Johnson.

"The cars have changed, the speeds have changed and the asphalt has changed, but I don’t believe the driver’s thinking has changed one bit." - Jeff Gordon.

"I’ve told my engine department, ‘bring the biggest horsepower you can. If we go up in a ball of flames, we go up in a ball of flames." - Kurt Busch, before the Sprint All-Star Race.

"I keep thinking our luck just has to change, but then something happens, and I’m not so sure." - Denny Hamlin.

"You get a chance to turn right and left and be kind of crazy." - Kyle Busch, on road racing.

"I know some people have called it a flying brick, but I look at it as more of a rental car on steroids." - Patrick Carpentier, on the generic car.

"I’m not sure what it takes to win here because I haven’t won here." - Matt Kenseth, at Chicagoland.

"I think they wasted a lot of asphalt on straightaways. As a race-car driver, I like the corners." - Clint Bowyer.

"Well, you have two choices. You can either give up, or you can keep fighting. If you keep fighting, anything can happen." - Jeff Burton.

"In my head, I’m always 13th. I’m always on the outside looking in. I don’t ever want to get comfortable or think we’re safe." -Martin.

"I’m fully capable of running out of talent. I’ve done it before." - Ryan Newman.

"The winds have slowed down a little bit. It’s no longer a hurricane, it’s just a tropical storm right now." - Hamlin, offering a metaphor for the Chase.

"What the reality is, the racing decides." - Martin.

"I’ve always told my crew chief, whoever it is at the time, ‘If you give me a straight arrow, I’ll shoot it straight. But don’t expect me to shoot a crooked arrow to the pole.’" - Newman.

"At Martinsville, I always like to say it’s controlled chaos. What we ask our cars to do and how we ask them to do it is not natural." - Michael Waltrip.

"I’d rather go down fighting than flipping." - Martin.

"The closer you get to the equator, the more popular he is, I think." - Newman, on Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I hate looking at my stats." - Casey Mears.

"I believe we have a grade of ‘C.’ We were an ‘F’ in 2007. We were a ‘D’ in 2008. We are a ‘C’ now. That’s progress." - Michael Waltrip, on the team he owns.

"The backbone was there. We just had to branch out. Our new branches were new people." - Newman, mixing his metaphors.

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Martinsville was a high point for Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray. Sixth place marked his best finish of the season, only his fourth in the top 10 and his first top 10 since May.

McMurray, twice a winner at NASCAR’s highest level, looks to the future with uncertainty. With NASCAR insisting on a limit of four full-time cars per team, owner Jack Roush has to cut back his operation, making McMurray the most likely driver in the Roush stable to either move to another team or be shuffled elsewhere within the Ford contingent.

The 33-year-old driver from Joplin, Mo., won his second Sprint Cup race, but that was way back in October 2002, when he won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway substituting for injured Sterling Marlin. In 2007, McMurray picked up career victory No. 2 in Daytona’s July race.

"It was a really good day," said McMurray of Martinsville Speedway’s Tums Fast Relief 500. "We made really good pit calls and had good pit strategy. Our car was better than average, so we just had a solid day."

McMurray is a proponent of the "double-file restarts rule" implemented earlier this year. At the end of each caution period, cars restart in running order, similar to the beginning of a race. Lapped cars, formerly placed in one of the two lines, are now buried deep in the pack, leaving the leaders to race for position.

"If you have a fast car, you don’t have to do all the strategy stuff," said McMurray. "If you’re struggling to stay on the lead lap, then maybe there’s something you can do there to work to your benefit."

"It’s very, very exciting, I think, for the fans. Our sport is based on putting a good show on, and this is putting a better show on for the fans."

McMurray ranks 22nd in Sprint Cup points, 184 behind Kevin Harvick, 27 ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and 29 in front of 24th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. McMurray’s three best career finishes in the point standings all occurred while he drove Dodges for Chip Ganassi. He finished 13th in 2003, 11th in 2004 and 12th in 2005.

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Fans were the honorary Grand Marshalls for the start of the Tums 500 race at the Martinsville on Sunday. Once a sure sellout, attendance was probably far short of that, around 55,000. Do we blame the falling attendance numbers on the country’s economic woes - or those of a single underperforming driver who drives the 88 car? (Photo: Associated Press)

- For those who oppose Jimmie Johnson’s bid for a fourth straight Sprint Cup championship, it could be worse. It has been worse. A year ago at this point, Johnson led the standings by 149 points. This year his edge is just 118.

- Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin has flashed the performance necessary to contend, but he lacks the consistency. Hamlin has top-five finishes in three of the six Chase races to date. In the other three, though, he’s finished 22nd, 37th and 42nd.

- No one knows the consequences of one bad race more than Juan Pablo Montoya, who has finished third or better in five of six Chase events. A 35th place at Lowe’s Motor Speedway translates to Montoya trailing Johnson by 200 points.

- Attendance remains a concern. Martinsville, where sellouts were once common, hosted a crowd estimated in the post-race report at 64,000. That was probably overstated by at least 10,000.

- It would be interesting to see some analysis of NASCAR’s recent struggles in the areas of attendance and television ratings. How much effect is derived from the country’s struggling economy? How much can be traced to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s struggles?

- No one is within 100 points of Johnson. Three drivers are within 200. Two more are within 300. Three more are within 400. Two more are within 500. Brian Vickers trails by 530.

- Johnson has won three of the six Chase races. At the next one, he will likely concentrate on staying out of trouble. Talladega may be the biggest obstacle in his path.

- Of the remaining Chase races, only at Homestead-Miami Speedway has Johnson never won.

- The past two Talladega races have ended with controversial finishes. Tony Stewart won a year ago when Regan Smith, who crossed the finish line first, was penalized, and Brad Keselowski won earlier this year after being involved in a crash with Carl Edwards near the finish line.

- Hamlin has won twice this year in his native Virginia. None of Hamlin’s seven career victories occurred on high-banked tracks.

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