A boost, any way you slice it

Thursday, Apr. 16, 2009

This weekend, for a change, perhaps Joey Logano won't have to start with a blank slate.

There is no question the 18-year-old Sprint Cup Series rookie has struggled in his inaugural full-time season with Joe Gibbs Racing, but two factors should aid him as the series moves to Phoenix International Raceway for Saturday night's Subway 500.

The first is a big boost of confidence, as Logano is coming off a victory in last weekend's Nationwide Series race at Nashville - his first series win since his victory at Kentucky last June.

“It's been a long time coming since Kentucky last year and we should have won a lot more,” Logano said. “To get this is what this whole team needed.”

The second comes as a result of some actual on-track experience Logano has in hand.

While NASCAR suspended all testing on series tracks this season - a move which affects rookies more than any others because they used to get more tests - Logano participated in a two-day Goodyear tire test at Phoenix earlier this season.

Logano's Cup crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, believes both the confidence and on-track experience should provide a solid foundation for the weekend.

“His Nationwide win is exciting for everyone involved. It's his second win and the more he wins over there, the more people have the chance to see that he is for real,” said Zipadelli. “Hopefully, he can take it to Phoenix, which is a place he's run well.

“We had a tire test there so he's had a chance to run some laps there. He was able to get two days in the new car and it allows us to at least have a starting point to work from with him instead of basing it off what we've done in the past with another driver.”

Logano called the win at Nashville “a big deal.”

“It's big for me, it's an awesome confidence booster for sure,” Logano said. “Looking and saying, ‘Hey, I can do this, I am here for a reason, I can win races.' That's big, just to reassure yourself of that.

“I'm sure this is just going to keep carrying on and now we just have to build on this momentum and keep going.”

So far, Logano's move to the No. 20 Toyota, driven last season by veteran Tony Stewart, has been a bumpy ride.

He attempted five Cup races last season, made two of them, and his best finish in the three races he drove in was 32nd at New Hampshire.

Things have improved some this season. Logano has two top-10 starts in seven races but just one finish better than 26th - a 13th at Las Vegas. He has, however, completed nearly 96 percent of all laps run so far.

Logano said the “one-team” approach at JGR has helped him keep grounded in the face of adversity.

“Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin), they help me out so much as a driver on the Cup side and then all those three crew chiefs over there work well together just like they do (on the Nationwide side) and you have to be a team,” he said.

“That's what we are - Joe Gibbs Racing is a team. Not the No. 18 (Busch) versus the No. 20 (Logano) all the time. It's cool that we race against each other, but at the same time we are still a team.”

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