Logano to replace Stewart?

UPDATE #3 Joey Logano says he isn't campaigning to drive the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Sprint Cup car next season. Even so, the 18-year-old JGR Nationwide Series driver contends that he is interested in the ride, which will be vacated at season's end by Tony Stewart. "Nothing has really changed," said Logano at Gateway International Raceway. "It's pretty much the same deal. If they offer it to me, I'd take it. It's something that has been talked about but I'm not in a position to say anything. I don't really know what I'm going to do yet. … I'm focused on the # 20 Nationwide car right now and from there that is team owner Joe Gibbs and team president J.D.'s Gibbs deal." SceneDaily.com

07/13/08 Top management of Joe Gibbs Racing wouldn't come out and say on Saturday that Joey Logano will replace Tony Stewart in the Sprint Cup series next season, but they didn't say anything to indicate otherwise. Team owner Joe Gibbs and president J.D. Gibbs both agreed Logano will play a huge part in the organization going forward. They oozed with compliments for the 18-year-old phenom, who won his third Nationwide Series start and has three top 10s in four events. They talked about his maturity. They reminded that Stewart, who announced on Thursday he will leave the organization after this season to become the driver/owner at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, didn't have a win when he partnered with Home Depot in 1999. "We're going to look at everything out there before we make a decision," J.D. Gibbs said before the Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway. "Generally, guys that are really gifted and real good show it right away. We've had a lot of drivers at JGR. All the good ones have popped right away. He has that." ESPN.com

06/26/08 See related rumor of why Logano is being pushed along in NASCAR so quickly.

Joey Logano

06/16/08 Joe Gibb's Racing's Joey Logano's Nationwide victory on Saturday night has revived speculation about whether the 18-year-old phenom could replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry.

Logano, who won in only his third start in the developmental series, could step in for the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who is considering leaving the team for another ride, possibly one with an ownership position attached.

"I don't think we've gone in that direction," team owner Joe Gibbs said Sunday at Michigan International Speedway before the start of the LifeLock 400. "We're still hoping we get things worked out (with Stewart). You're never quite sure and certainly where we are right now with Tony it's kind of hard to predict the future."

Asked how negotiations with Stewart are going, Gibbs said, "No updates. We're still working on things. I don't think there's anything to report there."

But Gibbs did say Logano could be racing on Sundays later this year, regardless of what Stewart decides.

"We would like to get him into some Cup stuff toward the end of the year," Gibbs said. "Now, whether we'll be able to do it or not, we want to make sure he's in good stuff in the right way."

The advanced billing was there for the kid from Connecticut who has won races at every level at which he's driven. But Gibbs said he was just hoping the expectations don't overwhelm Logano.

"I was so concerned the first part of the year with Joey, even though we knew all of the talent and everything that he had," Gibbs said. "I was so worried about all the pressure and everything that had been put on him.

"Our biggest concern with Joey is we knew the talent and we're committed for the long haul." ThatsRacin.com