Joey Logano 2010 Preview, Predictions & Odds

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Joey Logano 2009 Stats

Joey Logano 2009 Recap & Review

“The guy of the future.”That’s how Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs characterized young Joey Logano last year in tabbing the 18-year-old as the driver to replace veteran Tony Stewart. Stewart had piloted the No. 20 ride for 10 full seasons, winning two championships and 33 races while cultivating robust relationships with crew chief Greg Zipadelli and sponsor Home Depot.

Given the circumstances, it would be an understatement to say that Logano felt tremendous pressure to perform as the ’09 season got underway. When the Connecticut native took the green flag for the Daytona 500 in February, he became the youngest driver in history to start that race, though he finished in last place following a crash.

Four runs of 30th or worse followed in the next six races, leaving the team teetering on the edge of the top 35 in owner points and even starting quiet rumors of Logano’s ouster. But a Nationwide win at Nashville in April, combined with a ninth at Talladega, stopped the bleeding for a teenager who grew up in a hurry. Two top 10s in the next three races began a slow but steady rise through the standings, a climb that ended with Logano 20th in Cup points overall and as the 2009 Rookie of the Year.

Despite scoring two of his three top-5 finishes in this season’s last half-dozen races, the freshman’s highlight came in June, when he posted a win in the rain-shortened race at Loudon. At 19 years, 35 days old, Logano replaced teammate Kyle Busch as the youngest ever Cup winner.

Joey Logano 2010 Preview & Prediction

Joe Gibbs Racing has been a powerful force in NASCAR since the early 1990s, posting a total of 77 Cup wins and three Cup championships. Add in the Nationwide Series, and Gibbs’ cumulative win total grows to 119 — not to mention Joe’s long history of success in the NFL as the three-time Super Bowl winning coach of the Washington Redskins. It’s understandable, then, that when JGR signed young Joey Logano to its driver development program shortly after he turned 15, he quickly became the focus of national attention — and scrutiny.

Mark Martin’s endorsement of the talented teenager as the “real deal” served to pique that interest, deepening an expectation he’d be the sport’s next great superstar. That step came sooner than expected when Tony Stewart suddenly announced plans to leave JGR at the end of the 2008 season, leaving the ride open for Logano, then an 18-year-old rookie in the Nationwide Series.

The move was a gamble, the learning curve steep for Joey as he adjusted to driving the bigger, boxier Car of Tomorrow while competing on racetracks where he had never turned a lap. But to a driver nicknamed “Sliced Bread,” who’s been racing competitively since age 6, pressure is nothing new. After a poor start, the prodigious young star-to-be bounced back quickly, cementing a reputation as a quick study. The 2009 racing stats bear that out: In his first 10 Cup races, Logano had two DNFs and an average finish of 26.1; over the course of the next 26, he scored his first win, suffered only one DNF and averaged a finish of 17.7.

But by the end of the year, he seemed to have them down. Logano finished the season with three top-5 finishes, seven top 10s and Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, becoming the youngest driver to achieve that goal.

The 19-year-old phenom also experienced an unpleasant, though not entirely unexpected, event last year — a vicious crash at Dover in which his car rolled seven times. While frightening, the incident seemed to reinforce his comfort level with the new car; he scored a fifth-place finish at Charlotte two weeks later to put any fears to bed.

Heading into 2010, Logano has several factors working in his favor. No longer sporting a yellow rookie stripe on his Cup car, he will be returning to tracks that he’s raced before, relying on his own experience more than that of simulators and the advice of other drivers. In addition, Logano will be settling into a more comfortable relationship with crew chief Greg Zipadelli as well as teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Now a second-year driver in the Cup Series, Logano must avoid the dreaded sophomore slump that’s torn down more than its fair share of outstanding rookies. But it’s notable some of the greatest freshman drivers-turned-legends of our time — Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson — actually had better years the second time around. So if Logano wants to keep living up to the hype, then a Chase bid is not only within the realm of possibility for 2010 — it’s a realistic expectation.

Joey Logano 2010 Predictions

We predict that Joey Logano will finish 15th in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Joey Logano Betting & Odds

Joey Logano NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Odds: +8000

Joey Logano Betting Trends & Situations

• after finishing 2nd to 5th, average finish is 15.5
• when racing in February, average finish is 23.5

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