FanHouse 2009 Cup Rewind: Joey Logano, 20th

THE SEASON: In span of merely months, Joey Logano went from a guy who looked shellshocked at Daytona to the Cup Series' youngest-ever winner. Not bad for a kid who would have otherwise been driving a trash truck.

The 2009 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year, Logano found that the No. 20 was popping up in more places than just his regular Sunday ride. Not only was he 20th in the final standings, but Logano also averaged a finish of 20th over the 36-race season and started, on average, 20th. (20.5 was the exact number, but who's rounding anyway?)

Logano's win, while unexpected and a complete result of fortunate circumstance, came at his 'hometown' track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June when rain -- by now a regular occurrence at the New England one-miler -- came just as competitors needed pit stops. When it didn't stop, Connecticut's favorite NASCAR son had won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the tender age of 19.

Logano, obviously young and with natural expectations to have the struggles that typical rookies have, failed to finish just three times in 2009 -- though one of those DNF's produced a clip bound to make the yearbook highlight reels. On lap 30 of the September race at Dover, Logano was spun inadvertantly by Tony Stewart -- last year's occupier of the No. 20 ride -- before sliding up the track, hitting the wall and flipping violently several times.

Logano was visibly shaken emotionally after the wreck but seemed to get over it quick as he finished in the Top-15 in four of the next five races.

THE STATISTICS:
Best Finish - 1st, New Hampshire
Worst Finish - 43rd, Daytona;
Top-5s - 3
Top-10s - 7
Total Laps Led - 36
Percent of Laps Completed - 95.3

THE FUTURE: While Logano returns to the much-coveted Joe Gibbs No. 20 in 2010 with a year of Cup experience under his belt, the bigger factor for his 2010 prospects has nothing to do with who will be turning the steering wheel.

Instead, the biggest difference Logano will see -- aside from his early season jitters -- will come in how much more crew chief Greg Zipadelli understands about the driving style of the young prodigy. Certainly Zipadelli spent much of 2009 trying to understand the intricacies of Logano's driving style and building a comprehensive bridge of understanding in the communication department between the two.

In other words, it isn't easy to work with Tony Stewart for ten years and then try to understand just what Logano means when a call over the radio says the car isn't handling exactly right. That takes time, and over 36 races of 2009, you've got to think Zipadelli and Logano are getting better all the time.

It doesn't hurt, of course, to have teammates who combined for eight Sprint Cup wins in 2009 to check notes with.