I wouldn’t say Joe Gibbs has a young team, but if they get any younger, Coach can replace the shop soda machines with Gerber apple juice. Well, it should be easy on the pocket book, instead of rewarding his drivers with fat contracts, he can with juice boxes and Rice Krispy treats. There’s an additional financial upside: maybe Joe can get sponsorship deals with Gymboree or Pampers.
Ok- enough with the baby jokes. I couldn’t resist with a team that has the baby-faced Denny Hamlin as the garage gray beard. The truth is, this organization is as rock solid as any in NASCAR. The drivers may be young, but they’re accomplished.
Kyle Busch may not necessarily have Rick Hendrick regretting letting the Nevadan go,
but certainly he has rewarded Joe and J.D.’s confidence. All Busch really has to do is reclaim his pre-Chase form. I don’t care what critics say, Busch showed a lot of potential before coming over to JGR and he’s just beginning to fulfill it.
Kyle Busch has got more nerve than computer geek asking out the prom queen and he doesn’t seem all that worried about who he makes mad, he just wants to win. The main thing crew chief Steve Addington needs to do is keep the 22-year old’s head right. Busch can tend to quit when things go wrong, but as has been proven in 2008, the right motivation can get him turned around.
Denny Hamlin continues to make strides. He made the jump from 12th to 8th in the final points, and he’s made the Chase every year since his rookie year of 2006. One area where the #11 team performed much better was in not beating themselves with bad pit stops. Hamlin could get a bit streaky and times, and Mike Ford also has to employ a little track psychology to keep Denny focused, but really all the FedEx team is lacking is just a little more consistency and a little more luck.
The intriguing question to me is one of who will step up and be a leader in the garage. Of course, in a way, the drivers were considered a bit of a dysfunctional bunch even when Smoke was here. Stewart and Hamlin got into it a couple of times, and I don’t know I saw the same teamwork between Stewart and Busch at last year’s Daytona. I’m not throwing rocks at any one of these guys, but could you imagine having the leadership of a Mark Martin or a Jeff Burton here?
“Sliced Bread”, the much ballyhooed Joey Logano is here for the duration,
taking over the #20 ride from Tony Stewart. Logano jumped right into the Nationwide Series following his 18th birthday and experienced almost instant success. What remains to be seen is how much of that success came from the car and the other components of the team- because as Clint Bowyer put it so well “Even a monkey could win with that car.” At the Cup level, we just didn’t see the same success for Logano. of course, it can very well be argued that the kid from Conneticut ran in the ugly step-child of cars for this organization.
Critics argue that Joey Logano simply isn’t ready and he’ll face a steep learning curve in places like Daytona and Darlington. At the same time the question must be asked, “What does Joey Logano from hanging around the Nationwide Series?” I submit “Not much” With Greg Zipadelli making the pit calls, Joey Logano is in good hands, and you can figure Joe and J.D.Gibbs will keep a close eye on the phenom.
2009 could be a rough ride for Logano, but remember that Jeff Gordon was no great shakes as a rookie either. A part of me suspects the kid will have some big-time ups and downs, but at the end of the day, he’ll have enough good days to justify Gibbs’ confidence in the teen.
Some people just bring excellence wherever they go. It’s certainly been a Gibbs trademark. While several teams are scrambling to get their 2009 houses in order, JGR has been ready since the day after Homestead.
I expect Busch and Hamlin will once again make the Chase, and I frankly wouldn’t be all that surprised if even Logano made a run at it.
Just keep those Tootsie Pops comin’ Coach.
CREDITS: (JGR sign photo by tequilamike, Kyle Busch by Bristol Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin by psltt, and Joey Logano by karahleigh. More from these photographers can be found at flickr.com).
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