Joey Logano Looking to Score Big in 2009 Sprint Cup Season

When you think of where most stock car legends are bred, New England may not be the epicenter of racing when it comes to sports fans.  It is often thought of as well-versed in the stick and ball sports.

And why not?

The locale happens to be the home of the Boston Red Sox, who broke their 86-year-old title drought in 2004 and won another World Series in 2007; the Boston Celtics, who finally won their 17th NBA championship; the New England Patriots who may be, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, regarded as the NFL team of the 2000s; and the resurgent Boston Bruins NHL franchise.

NASCAR is often looked at as an afterthought, unless it's Daytona 500 time. Otherwise, there's nary a sign of the sport in the newspapers or local sports shows, scrutinized by sports fans in the area who typically try to find ways to disprove its credibility compared to the other "big four sports."

Well, New England may have found its first true motorsports star. Middletown, Connecticut's Joey Logano has raced his way into the world of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

Said by Mark Martin to be the next greatest thing in the sport, the 18-year-old phenom has the skills and potential to finally give New England its place on the stock car racing map.

Sure, the region has bred modified heroes like Mike Stefanik, Richie Evans, the Bodine brothers, Ted Christopher, and Jimmy Spencer. But those drivers either stayed in the local racing scene or ventured to the NASCAR ranks with moderate success at best.

But Logano has been making noise in racing since he was 6 years old, racing quarter midgets in his home state of Connecticut.

Capturing championships in various youth racing divisions in the late 90s, a move to Georgia in his latter years of childhood propelled the youngster to racing in the Bandolero series and Legend cars.

Eventually working his way to stock car leagues like the USAR Hooters Pro Cup series, Logano impressed competitors and veterans so much, that Joe Gibbs Racing would sign the prospect.

Benefiting from NASCAR's rule of allowing drivers as young as 16 years old to compete in their feeder series, Logano wasted no time making his mark in what was then the Busch East Grand National Division.

Capturing the 2007 title in that series, Logano set his eyes on competing in the Sprint Cup Series. But before he could, the teen-age sensation had to wait until he turned 18 years old to race in any of the Big Three racing series.

He would go on to win an ARCA race at Rockingham Speedway in May 2008. Later that month, after he turned 18 on May 24, Logano would finally make his much anticipated debut in one of NASCAR's biggest series, competing in the spring Dover race and finishing with an impressive sixth-place finish.

Collecting two poles, a win, and 10 top 10s in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, his sample shot into the Sprint Cup ranks would not be quite as smooth of a transition.

Making only three starts in the last 10 races of the Cup season, his performances would be tremendously subpar, with his best finish being 28th at Kansas Speedway.

Otherwise, Logano was as lost as a college freshman making his way around his Ivy League school campus, with finishes of 40th and 42nd at Loudon, N.H. (his debut) and Fort Worth, Texas.

Despite his remarkable fourth place finish in the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race on Thursday (which translates to an ninth starting spot in this Sunday's Daytona 500), Speedweeks has been erratic for the 2009 Rookie of the Year candidate, often finding himself meeting the SAFER barrier, or trouble from someone else's mess.

Perhaps noticing a trend, Joe Gibbs Racing had teammate Kyle Busch, Logano's senior by five years, mentor and harness his freshman teammate by piloting the Home Depot Toyota in the second to last practice session of the Daytona 500.

Is Logano ready for Sprint Cup racing? Or will he prove to be another Casey Atwood, a young star who was brought up into the series too soon?

Knowing the success of Joe Gibbs Racing, with the right leadership, as well as Logano maturing as an individual, there may be no stopping the Constitution State native from breaking many statistics in the record books of NASCAR.

2009 may not be a spectacular year for Joey Logano, but then again, his predecesor had moderate expectations as well with his new ride.

That man was Tony Stewart, who has gone on to transition from an Indy Racing League sensation to a NASCAR Sprint Cup legend. He achieved all his success in his late 20s and 30s.

With time and leadership, there's no telling what Logano is capable of as a racer.