[Lefty Noob]

Who in the world is Joey Logano, and why is he being called "the next big thing" in NASCAR?

According to Yahoo! Sports, Mark Martin once said of the kid, "I am absolutely, 100-percent positive, without a doubt that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR... I'm positive. There's no doubt in mind."

That was when Logano was 15. Since then, according to writer Jay Hart? "He won in just his second USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series start, signed a development deal with Joe Gibbs Racing, beat Kevin Harvick in a stock-car race less than 24 hours after Harvick won NASCAR's All-Star Challenge, become the youngest champion in the history of any of NASCAR's touring divisions, and recently won the Toyota All-Star Showdown – a race that included all of NASCAR's top developmental drivers."

So what's the good word on this kid. Is he as good as advertised?
The next big thing - NASCAR - Yahoo! Sports

[Racer Duck]

to quote Darrell Waltrip (FOX Sports on MSN - NASCAR - Won't be long before Logano's up to Cup):

What makes a great race car driver is confidence, whether you're 17 or 47. You need confidence to be successful. That's what I see in this kid, Logano. He's confident in his ability. He knows he's in good equipment. He doesn't make bad decisions; he doesn't have to.

Getting in good rides is what helps these young guys develop and move on quickly. Logano obviously has talent, but he is surrounded by good people and takes advantage of it.

Does Joey have anything to look forward to? Well, he does have a lot to look forward to, just not in this series. He kept the respect of all the competitors — who seem to like the kid — because he shows a lot of respect on the track.

After winning rookie of the year and the series title in Busch East, and now the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, there's nothing left for Logano at the NASCAR Regional Racing level. When he turns 18 in May, he'll run the Nationwide Series, and I don't believe that he'll run very long in that series before he moves up to the Sprint Cup Series.

that's pretty high praise for a 17yo.

[NASCAR Gnome]

Logano is an up-and-coming rookie "phenom" driver.

It's like in baseball or basketball when they have a young prospect out of high school. It's not uncommon for baseball teams to sign high school teenage players to minor league contracts just to have them in their organization. I believe Logano is in the Gibbs (I almost wrote "Redskins") organization and not unlike the examples above, Logano is a very promising prospect.

As an aside, Logano is a perfect example of successful local driver development. I've read and heard so much about the open-wheel and foreign drivers coming to Cup to displace local drivers but here you have the perfect example of how someone with talent will get his shot!

[lilsexy08]

I read the story about him. With what he has done so far Joey will probably make a name for himself in Nascar someday.

[SpaceCadet]

I think this kid is the real deal. If you notice, the other driver's have a lot of respect for this young kid. I don't think I've heard any of his apponant's say anthing negative. They all have high praise for him. This tells me young Joey earns their respect on the track, a difficult task for one so young I might think.