Joey Logano 2014 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
2013 Stats: Points Finish 8th, 2 Poles, 1 Win, 11 Top Fives, 19 Top Tens, Average Running Position 13.9, Average Finish 14.1, Laps Led 323, Driver Rating 92.94
Strengths- The 22 team performs at it’s best on high-speed intermediate tracks. Joey Logano also has dark horse potential at many other venues on different track types.
Weaknesses- Restictor plate tracks haven’t been friendly to Logano recently.
NASCAR 2014 Printable Schedule
Intermediate Track Grade- A, Joey Logano was very impressive on intermediate tracks last season. On this track type minus his Kansas #1 crash and Chicagoland engine failure he had a 7.1 average finish and a 10.5 average running position. Also minus those races he finished in the top five 60% percent of the time and in the top ten 80% percent of the time. Last season Logano had an impressive win at Michigan and if circumstances played out better for him he also could’ve won at Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta. In 2014 I expect Logano to continue to perform well on this track type.
Flat Track Grade- A-, Flat tracks have been friendly venues for Joey Logano. He’s capable of performing well at both the big flats and the small flats.
Pocono has been a good track for him. Since the repave he has 1 win, the third best average finish (7.8), led 48 laps and has scored the 4th most points.
In 2013 at Indy Logano started in 11th, led 11 laps and finished 8th. He also has two other top twelve finishes to his name there.
New Hampshire is the site of Logano’s first career win back in 2009. That victory shows you exactly why races need asterisk marks. From a career standpoint though it’s been a good track for him. Minus the three races he had problems (including July, early crash) he has a 9.14 average finish and hasn’t had a result worse than 14th.
Logano is better at Phoenix than he looks on paper. Last fall he finished in 9th. In spring 2013 he ran out of gas at the end of the race and finished 26th. If fuel didn’t enter the equation he likely would’ve finished around 10th. In fall 2012 he was running inside the top ten at the end of the race but got collected in the Gordon /Bowyer carnage and finished 27th. In four of the five races prior to that he finished 11th or better. His only result not within that range was due to an engine failure.
Short Track Grade- B, On short tracks Logano only has fantasy value at Bristol. He was very competitive last season. In the spring race he was a contender for the win but he had “Hamlin” issues and was spun while he was running in 2nd. In August he finished 6th. In the first race on the current configuration he finished 8th and led 139 laps.
I wouldn’t recommend picking Logano at Richmond. Last fall when his Chase hopes were on the line he finished 22nd. In spring 2013 he finished 3rd but I would describe that result as fools gold because it can be chalked up to late pit strategy. His Richmond average finish is 17.8.
At Martinsville Logano’s ceiling is a teens finish. In the last six Martinsville races he’s either finished in the teens or 23rd. Last season he had results of 14th and 23rd. His 23rd place finish last season was largely due to a battery dieing over the last 100 laps.
Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B, Logano has not performed well on restrictor plate tracks in recent years. Last fall at Talladega he finished 16th but prior to that he had four straight results of 24th or worse. Early in his career he had success there. In four of his first five Talladega races he had a result in the top ten.
In 2013 at Daytona Logano had results of 40th and 19th. Before joining Penske Racing he had three straight top nine finishes. In 2014 I would look for Logano to show overall improvement on this track type. He’s proven in the past he’s capable of being successful on this track type.
Road Course Track Grade- A-, Logano is an underrated road course racer. Last season on this track type he tied Jimmie Johnson for scoring the 5th most points. His success at these venues wasn’t a fluke. Last season at Infineon he finished 11th. His next two most recent finishes there are 10th and 6th. In 2013 at Watkins Glen he finished 7th. In 2012 he had a broken shock (discard result) but in 2011 he finished 5th. Don’t overlook Logano on this track type, especially at Watkins Glen where his teammate Brad Keselowski has three consecutive runner-up finishes.
[button link=”http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/drivers/joey-logano/57″ style=”tick”]FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com Joey Logano Page[/button]
