Joey Logano must feel like the dark skies that had been around him have parted and he can finally see the sun, as after a season that has seen the 19 year old racer ride ups and downs, he finally captured his first win of the season in a rain shortened affair at New Hampshire’s Motor Speedway at Loudon.

Joey Logano has NASCAR's greats in his sights

Nervous minutes before Joey Logano had been sitting against his No. 20 race car, trying to look cool and collected as he waited to hear if he was going to capture his first win due to the intervention of Mother Nature. The gathering crowd around Joey Logano and the No. 20 pit box was restless as the cars sat on pit road under a red flag waiting for the storm to begin, and they didn’t wait long.

Sunday was about Joey Logano though, a racer who has battled through a rookie season that has been far from easy on a racer who is probably getting use to getting there by the tough route. A young racer who earned the somewhat auspicious nickname of “Sliced Bread” for his exploits in NASCAR’s support series. Sunday’s victory marks only the fourth time in seventeen starts this season that Joey has been able to crack the top ten and what a way and place to accomplish the feat.

New Hampshire, the track where he witnessed his first Cup race as a fan, where he drove to victory in developmental series races, and the place he made his debut in the major league of racing. A humbling and frustrating 32^nd place-debut that made him realize he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to win. Sunday though was his day, his first of many to come if he has his way, but a triumphant homecoming that no one really expected, especially with his early problems in the race.

One thing for sure about this 19 year old racing fanatic, he’s going to surprise at times, and has always been a bit of a wild card. We can look forward to him providing us with amazing thrills and a few spills over his career and maybe a few years from now, we’ll be talking about him as one of the best. This is one of the best things about NASCAR; you just never know whose going to rise to the top of the ladder.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Tired of doing all the work the last few races, only to finish out of first place, Kyle Busch decided to take a different route to victory in Saturday’s Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Instead of jumping out in front and setting the pace at the Magic Mile, Kyle Busch decided he didn’t need to lead the majority of the laps to win the race. Kyle Busch has lead the majority of the laps in his last eight races, but only managed to win two. In fact, all he really had to do was be the first over the finish line, and if he saved his finishing surge until the right moment he might have a better chance of being the first to the line.

Kyle Busch wins the Camping World RV Sales 200

Staying back in the pack and letting others set the pace turned out to be the recipe for success, as he waited for the last green flag to make his attack. Slipping in behind his Joe Gibbs team mate Joey Logano, he waited for his chance and then made his pass for the lead on Lap 165 of the scheduled 200. Staying in front of Logano in the corners and out of the straight stretches, Busch was able to put a little road between him and Logano, until the final ten laps. Pulling up behind Busch’s No. 18 Toyota as he was trying to fight his way through lapped traffic, Logano was able to stay on Busch’s bumper until the final lap, when Busch was able to pull away, and eventually beat his team mate to the line by 0.617 seconds. The win was Kyle Busch’s 26^th career win in the series, which puts him fifth best all-time, just behind Jeff Burton.

Brad Keselowski finished strong and took third place; Mike Bliss was right on Keselowski’s bumper, while Kevin Harvick drove home in fifth in his own No. 33 Chevrolet. Carl Edwards had a tough day but managed sixth, Greg Biffle was steady and finished seventh, Scott Speed finished eighth, Erik Darnell took ninth, and the top ten was rounded out by Jason Leffler.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Joey Logano became the first NASCAR racer to be victorious in the Meijer 300 Nationwide Series race two consecutive years at the Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, on Sunday. An achievement that had Joey Logano smiling when he learned the facts and who could blame him considering the difficulty of such a feat of racing.

Joey Lagano looks cool, clean, and ready to race

Logano had become the first NASCAR driver to take the pole position two years in a row at the 1.5 mile venue in Kentucky, earlier in the day. The Kentucky Speedway seems to suit Logano’s driving style and car and we’re sure he would love to race on this track every week. Logano managed to pull ahead of team mate Kyle Busch with only 10 laps left in the 300 mile competition and then stayed in front long enough to take the win. This gives him and his team mates two poles and two victories in two tries at the Kentucky Speedway, a perfect record that’s going to be hard to continue in the future.

The victory was a battle that saw Kyle Busch take the lead six different times during the competition and he was in front for the most laps of the race for the seventh consecutive race in a row. Kyle Busch lead for 162 laps of the 300 scheduled laps around the Kentucky Speedway but would in the end he couldn’t hold off a faster car. Kyle Busch didn’t have too much time to ponder his second place finish as he had to leave immediately after the race to compete in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race.

Speeding on pit road was a common theme in the Meijer 300 as NASCAR handed out 27 pit road speed penalties during the race, including one to Logano on lap 71 that had him restarting 15^th, but his car was strong and he worked his way up through the field to second place with just 93 laps left. The red flag came out with 15 laps remaining, which allowed Logano to close ground on Busch following the restart, and then slip past him moving into Turn 3 of lap 190.

Brad Keselowski held on to finish third, Brendan Gaughan was satisfied with his fourth place finish, and Justin Allgaier took fifth. Jason Leffler finished sixth, Michael Annett seventh, Burney Lamar eighth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came ninth, and the top ten was rounded out by Kelly Bires.

The next Nationwide race is the Milwaukee Mile on June 20 in the Northern Tool.com 250. Check information below on times to watch or listen to the race.

ESPN 2, 7:30 PM

Radio MRN, 8 PM

Image: Zuma Press

Good news for those involved in the Chase. Saturday’s practice times/speeds were faster for most than qualifying. Three of the top six times were the likes of Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle - the top three in the Chase standings.

Biffle’s No. 16 car posted the fastest time during the practice round, cutting up the Kansas Speedway at 167.385 MPH. Biffle is tied for second in the Chase standings, along with Johnson, who finished the practice round with a top speed of 166.528. Edwards posted the third-best top speed in the No. 99 car at 167.271.

So what are we looking at this afternoon? Well, the Kansas Speedway has been notorious for being extremely hard to win for those 12 drivers involved in the Chase. It’s all been almost expected to see a wreck that will impact the race standings. So, here’s my prediction. With the history of the track hard to ignore, I’m staying on the side of caution. Both Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart looked impressive in practice Saturday, however both are starting near the back of the pack. With so much to make up, I don’t feel comfortable choosing either as a hands-down winner. But I do feel comfortable picking either Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon.

Martin starts alongside Johnson on the front row after Montoya was disqualified. Gordon will start in the 13th position. Yet, it’s hard to ignore Biffle and his chase for a third-straight win. So, here are my top three finishers for today’s race. Gordon will win, followed by Martin and Biffle fighting for second.

Now, time to sit back and wait for that green flag.

Getting this page back in the groove begins now. As NASCAR heads to Kansas this weekend, we will take a quick trip around some other sites to get some insight on what is going on right now.

Tony Stewart says “Sliced Bread” is a good replacement for him.

Jeff Foxworthy is coming out with a new animated show about a NASCAR family. We can only hope it doesn’t bomb like “The Jeff Foxworthy Show” did.

Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Pieces wonders where A.J. Allmendinger will be ending up after being let go by Red Bull.

From the Marbles compares Jimmie Johnson to some other great sports dynasties of the past.

The NASCAR Insiders talk about what the Chase for the Cup has done to the sport. I have to agree with them. I was worried what the Chase would do to the sport, however, it seems it is working out just fine.

Fox 4 news station in Kansas City is covering this weekend’s race.

EA Sports revealed its Fall lineup for mobile games and it includes NASCAR 09.

Saturday’s running of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was an historic night for the Nationwide Series, and NASCAR in general. As the rainy weather crept its way onto the tracks, the race was red flagged, and for the first time ever in a NASCAR points race, the teams switched over to grooved tires to run the remainder of the race.

The rain was eventually stopped 26 laps short due to poor visibility, and in the end, it was Canadian native, Ron Fellows, out in front of the pack when the race was officially called. Throughout the majority of the race it appeared as though Marcos Ambrose was going to run away with things, leading a race high 27 laps, but a late pit road speeding penalty cost him, and Fellows was there to take advantage.

For Fellows, who was driving the no. 5 entry for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned JR Motorsports, it was his fourth career road course victory in 13 Nationwide Series starts, and he also became the first Canadian to ever win a major NASCAR event in Canada.

Fellows was followed to the line by another Canadian native, Patrick Carpentier, who finished 2nd. Ambrose was able to recover from his earlier mistakes on pit road and came back to finish 3rd. 4th place went to Ron Hornaday, and 5th was Boris Said.

Carl Edwards - now 2nd in points - finished 6th, while the series points leader, Clint Bowyer, crossed the finish line in 9th. Brad Keselowski dropped the 2nd position in the points race to Edwards with a 12th place run, dropping Brad down to 3rd overall.

Jacques Villeneuve and Joey Logano dropped about 10 positions in the running order each when they wrecked into other cars during the final caution period.

“I hit a lapped car with no brake lights. I have no idea who it was,” Logano said. “I couldn’t see 5 feet in front of me down the straightaway, under caution. Somebody stopped. I locked up all four and boom! … It’s just not right.”

They each went onto finish 16th and 17th respectively.

It should be noted, however, that the accidents during the final caution were caused by poor visibility, and were not tire-related. In fact, there were really no tire issues the whole race, which should serve as a huge pick-me-up for Goodyear after the debacle that they went through last week at Indy.

Complete Results of the NAPA Auto Parts 200     /     Current Nationwide Series Points Standings

Over the weekend, several sources reported that Joe Gibbs came right out and said that it was beginning to look very unlikely that his prominent organization, Joe Gibbs Racing, would expand to include a fourth team in the Cup Series next season. Gibbs told reporters that it was getting too late in the year to properly put together an expansion package that would make a fourth team competitive right off the bat, and I’m sure that losing Tony Stewart didn’t help their plans, either.

“You wouldn’t say never, but it doesn’t look right now that it will happen for us next year,” Gibbs told The Associated Press before the start of Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Once Gibbs made the statement, immediate conclusions were being drawn that this would also count Ryan Newman out of the running for a set with Gibbs as well, as all indications are that one of their three seats are without doubt reserved at some point in time for Joey Logano, and that no fourth team means no Ryan Newman.

ESPN.com was - as they have been all season long - a bit more deliberate in their reports, reporting that Gibbs himself went on record and discounted the notion of Newman moving to Gibbs.

It would be hard,” Gibbs said before the Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Another time, another day, maybe. He’s a great individual. You would love to have him on your team. It’s just all those ducks aren’t in a row.”

A representative from Richard Childress Racing also stated on Friday that he expects Newman to move to Stewart Haas Racing next season. Childress and Gibbs were both considered to be the only other major players in the bidding for Newman’s services, so if they both say that it’s not going to be them, then I guess we can go ahead and start picturing what Newman will look like behind the wheel of the no. 4 car next season.

With Newman out of the running for the no. 20 car, that really takes all the players off the board in my mind. Sure, I suppose something could happen with Martin Truex Jr. leaving DEI, but I don’t picture a move to Gibbs being in his future, either. And, yeah, Casey Mears is still out there, but I think Home Depot would be likely to throw a fit if they were told that they were going from Stewart to Mears (no offense, Casey). The only scenario I can see playing out that doesn’t involve Joey Logano driving the no. 20 full-time next season is if he drives it part-time with Gibbs hiring another “lesser” talent out there to run the balance of the races just to keep the car inside the top-35 …. but, let’s face it, that doesn’t seem likely, either.

Long story short - Newman to the no. 4 car, Logano to the no. 20 ….. they just haven’t announced it yet.

Earlier in the week NASCAR implimented new rules restricting the horsepower output in the Nationwide Series engines, specifically targeting Toyota, as they were the only manufacturer running the effected engine packages. But, even that couldn’t stop Kyle Busch from dominating Saturday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Busch started the race from the outside pole, and then ran away with the race, leading 197 of the 200 laps. The victory is Busch’s sixth NNS win of the season, and his 15th between NASCAR’s three premier series, surpassing the previous record set by Kevin Harvick. Colin Braun, in search of his first NASCAR victory for Roush-Fenway Racing, settled for 2nd, and Mike Bliss, Scott Wimmer, and Josh Wise completed the top-five.

Following the race, Busch sarcastically commented, “I was kind of disappointed because I feel like that 15 horsepower cost me the pole. I really got to thank my competitors for doing the complaining they did, because we were able to have good traction control all night long. I feel like that was important, to get off the corners a little bit better than everybody.”

Rookies Landon Cassill and Joey Logano continued to impress, as they finished 7th and 8th, respectively. Series points leader, Clint Bowyer, found his struggles throughout the evening, as he finished 18th. Second place, Brad Keselowski, didn’t do any better, though, and he finished 19th. Third place, Carl Edwards, made up a little bit of ground with his 11th place finish. There were no changes with the top-ten in points, though.

Kroger 200 Complete Results

Nationwide Series Standings (from nascar.com):

I would like to thank John Beamer, one of the writers for F1 Pitlane, for contacting me recently to do an interview over at the site … to which, of course, I happily obliged. John is a great guy and they do a fantastic job over there, so I encourage you all to go give it a look and while you’re there, take a look at the interview.

A Stateside Perspective - NASCAR and F1

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Joe Gibbs Racing has been left with a void to fill ever since a couple weeks ago when their franchise driver, Tony Stewart, announced his departure from the team following the conclusion of this season to venture into the realm of car ownership at the Sprint Cup level to become a 50% owner of the newly formed Stewart Haas Racing. In the absence of Stewart, Gibbs will still hold claim to two of the top young stars in the sport with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, but the fact of the matter is that Stewart has won two championships for the organization over his ten years with the team, and that’s just something that’s not easily replaced.

Now Joe and JD Gibbs are left with a decision to make. They had previously expressed interest in starting a fourth Cup team to build around their young star in the waiting, Joey Logano, and that’s still a viable option if they’re able to land a solid driver to fill their current void. Whatever they decide to do, though, whether it’s stay at three teams or expand to four, it’s very likely that their decision will revolve around Logano. At the very tender age of 18 years old and with only a few Nationwide Series races under his belt, Logano has already expressed his desire to climb into the no. 20 seat next season, and that could force Gibbs’ hand to give him an early promotion to the Cup level in an effort to protect their interests and keep other teams from pursuing him.

Another huge variable that has to come into play here, though, is Ryan Newman’s recent announcement that he will leave Penske Racing at the end of 2008. Newman is hands down considered the biggest player left on the free agent market, and he has a proven track record that when he’s surrounded by the right team and the right equipment, he’s more than capable to go out and win some races and put a bid in towards winning a championship. Gibbs’ best bet could be to pursue Newman as an option for the no. 20 car and begin building a part-time fourth team around Logano next season that would give him some seat time in the Cup through about six or so races, and then get him ready for a full-time run in 2010. This would also give him a full season in the Nationwide Series to work with Crew Chief, David Rogers, and continue to build a relationship with him, and then bring Dave to the new team with him.

That is a very circumstantial plot, however, as Newman has already stated that there are really three contenders for his services next season, and his other two options are considered to be the seat alongside Tony Stewart over at Stewart Haas Racing and the newly formed no. 33 ride at Richard Childress Racing. Other free agents on the market such as Casey Mears are not considered to be primary contenders for a spot within Joe Gibbs Racing, so if Newman’s name gets scrapped from the table, then expect to see Logano full-time in 2009.