2015 Daytona 500 weekend recap: Joey Logano is NASCAR’s true young star

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A popular parlor topic in the aftermath of Jeff Gordon’s retirement announcement was who would emerge as his heir apparent. The names bandied about were the most obvious: Kyle Larson, 23, and Chase Elliott, 19.

Much the face of NASCAR’s next generation, Larson and Elliott are prodigious talents who, in due time, will almost certainly make their mark. But each are still developing and neither has yet to win Sprint Cup race -- and in Elliott’s case, even start a premier division event.

Yet what’s often overlooked is while NASCAR waits for Larson and Elliott to enter superstardom, there was already a young talent doing just that.

After all it’s easy to forget Joey Logano is only 24 and fulfilling the heady expectations once placed upon him. In 2013, he won once and earned his first Chase for the Sprint berth. Last season he did even more, winning five times and advancing to the championship round.

And the scary thing is he’s just entering his prime. So why did it seem a surprise then when Logano won the Daytona 500 Sunday? Shouldn’t this be the natural progression for a career on the upswing?

For most that would be the case, but Logano might be the youngest oldest driver in the garage. Rushed to Cup as an 18-year-old before he was ready, Logano floundered. The mediocrity compounded because Joe Gibbs Racing handpicked Logano to be Tony Stewart’s successor when he left to co-own his team.

At the time Logano gave all the appearance of a flop when all he needed was time and patience. Both of which were in short supply with JGR and in a car not accustomed to running mid-pack.

Needing more, JGR sent Logano packing in favor of Matt Kenseth, a proven veteran with a championship résumé.

All of sudden with no quality rides available and lacking the credentials to prove deserving if there were, the then-22-year-old Logano was at a career crossroads. Fate interceded when AJ Allmendinger failed a drug test putting Team Penske in need of a replacement. At the behest of Brad Keselowski, Roger Penske took a flyer and signed Logano for 2013.

“It’s no secret that I got thrown into the series too young, too inexperienced,” Logano said. “I didn’t know what I had to do to start working my way up.

“Obviously the switch over to Team Penske was the best move of my career. To be here, get teamed up with a great team, it was an opportunity for me to regroup, be who I wanted to be as an adult, not an 18-year-old kid anymore, go out there and work hard.”

As evident by Sunday’s triumph and last year’s overwhelming success, both sides have benefited. Fully supported by a team with the utmost confidence in his abilities, Logano matured into a confident championship-caliber driver. Along with Keselowski, 30, Logano gives Penske a pair of drivers who will be organizational linchpins for years to come. Both the present and future firmly secured.

“It’s paid off in spades for us,” Penske said. “You saw what he did last year. This is just the start I think of a career, he’s going to be a guy at the top for a long time.”

No, Logano may not be the “next Jeff Gordon,” but only because that’s an impossibly high standard. If anything Logano is forging his own path.

On Sunday he became the second-youngest Daytona 500 winner in history, besting Gordon, who won his first Great American Race at age 25. Perhaps giving credence that a rising crop of youngsters will one day strive to be the “next Joey Logano.”

“I feel like I got over 20 years left in my career,” Logano said. “It’s hard to look that far down the path.

“You only hope you can do as much as Jeff Gordon. Look at what he’s done in his career. He’s been an amazing ambassador for our sport.”