News

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

News Story

TOYOTA'S SOPHOMORE CLASS GETTING HIGH MARKS

Going into the season, there were some high hopes – and equally high expectations – among the camps of the two Toyota Camry drivers who battled it out for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in 2009.

Joey Logano was another year older and wiser in the ways of survival and success on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. Scott Speed was also another year older and just beginning to reach into the well of talent and determination that made him the lone American driver in Formula 1 for a time.

Four races into the 2010 season, those high hopes and expectations are bearing fruit…and are even good for a bit of a surprise here and there.

Heading in to this weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Speed is in a Chase slot (12th in points and the top Toyota Camry driver in the standings) and Logano, who was an unwitting victim of the early-race incident between Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards in Atlanta two weeks ago, sits a competitive 14th.

Speed finished 10th in Atlanta, his best finish of the season, and jumped four spots into that Chase-contending 12th. One of those he overtook in the standings was Logano, whose car was damaged in the lap-39 crash and further mangled when a right front tire went down and sent him to the fence.

Logano finished 35th, dropping him from eighth in the points to the 14th slot. He was the best Toyota coming into Atlanta, and he left as the second-best Toyota in the points.

“This is awesome,” Speed said in his California surfer drawl after Atlanta. “It’s fantastic. I’m so happy with all of the progress we’ve all made and I know how much still I have to learn, so I’m really optimistic for the future.”

Consider this as a gauge of the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota team’s improvement from 2009 to now: last year before Atlanta, he sat 37th in the points after three races. Heading to Atlanta this year, he was 16th with a 135-point lead on 35th in car owner points. With his first top-10 of the season, his advantage is currently 230 points over the 35th-place car.

“We never would have expected this after last year,” Speed said. “We expected to be better, but you still have to keep digging.”

Speed hasn’t finished worse than 22nd in the four races so far this season, and he’s completed all but one lap of competition. He’s even led 19 laps so far, and only four drivers have more bonus points than he does right this minute.

That’s in spite of having to qualify for each event on speed. If he holds serve through Bristol this weekend, and he will, he’ll be locked into the top 35 with plenty of room to spare.

He was 11th at Auto Club Speedway, too, which speaks of vastly improved communication and preparation between himself and crew chief Jimmy Elledge.

Logano’s race in Atlanta was a stinging slap after back-to-back top-10 finishes at Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas, yet he’s still in solid shape at just 11 points off the top 12. But Atlanta was a case of being the innocent victim when his rivals decided to play rough.

“We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he lamented. “It made for a long day. I really think we had a top-10 car [at Atlanta] and it's hard looking back at days like this because there is really nothing we could have done to avoid it. We will get back at it in Bristol."

As down as he was after Atlanta, he was equally up after Las Vegas.

“I am really excited about that,” he gushed. “I tell you, if you keep getting top 10s and get closer to the top five, eventually the wins are going to come.”

Typically, Logano is upbeat about his progress as a full-time Sprint Cup Series driver. Being 19 years old will do that for you.

“I’m about three or four times more prepared than I was last year,” he said just before the Atlanta race. “Last year was tough for me. The cool part is how we improved throughout the season. Coming out of the gates this year with already one top five and already getting two top 10s off the bat is pretty exciting for a driver and for the whole Home Depot team.

“We did a good job last season to bring it home 20th in points, but having a good solid finish definitely gains some momentum going into the season.”

One aspect of his progression has been an improving relationship with crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who has done all this before with a kid named Tony Stewart.

“I feel like it took us a long time to get used to each other and get it figured out,” Logano said. “Lately we’ve been getting along better and we’re really doing a lot better job on our adjustments. The biggest thing that is helping us this year is the relationship has grown a lot in a lot of different ways.”

Toyota’s sophomore class is doing just fine through one-ninth of the season, and all signs point to continued success.

Average Rating:

Rate This:

1 2 3 4 5