Race Weekend Central

Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Freshmen Speed & Logano Learn the Art of Survival at Fontana

Joey Logano
Start: 6th; Finish: 14th

Summary: Joey Logano started out the Pepsi 500 weekend with a controversial Nationwide win, one that involved an alleged purposeful bump from Greg Biffle and a post-race altercation between the rookie’s father and the Roush Fenway driver. Hoping to leave the controversy behind him, the driver of the Home Depot Camry rolled off the grid in the sixth position, his best qualifying spot since his fifth-place effort at Darlington in May.

See also
Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Copart 300 at Fontana

Logano fell back at the start, but was able to run on the fringe of the top 10 for the first 100 laps. However, as the California sun started to beat down on the track surface, the No. 20 Camry became very loose to the point Logano and crew chief Greg Zipadelli struggled to find the handling throughout the middle portion of the race. The team lost a lap and fell outside the top 20.

Eventually, the team was able to dial the car back in, and Logano positioned himself to receive the free pass when the seventh caution of the day flew for an incident between Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Biffle on the frontstretch. With six laps remaining, Logano was forced to dodge a multi-car wreck heading into turn 1 and did so successfully. After an eventful day, Logano and team managed to finish in a very respectable 14th place, giving the driver his first rookie of the race award since Loudon.

Back on Track?: Logano’s 14th-place finish on Sunday afternoon was his first top 20 since Richmond last month, where he also finished in 14th.

Scott Speed
Start: 21st; Finish: 21st

Summary: Scott Speed clocked in a very solid starting position in the middle of the pack when he qualified on Friday. As it turns out, all that meant was that he had room to fall back when the green flag flew on Sunday afternoon. Speed struggled with the handling of his Red Bull Camry under the cloud cover that the teams had not seen all weekend. By lap 53 he was one lap down and by lap 100, the rookie had fallen outside of the top 30. All was not lost for the No. 82 team, as they received the free pass when caution flew for debris on lap 117.

Speed would continue to struggle for most of the event, again losing a lap, but adjustments and crafty pit strategy by crew chief Jimmy Elledge would put the Californian back on the lead lap with a better car by the end of the day. Like Logano, Speed also had to drive through the carnage of the Big One in the closing laps and was rewarded with a 21st-place finish… exactly where he started.

Finally, some good home cooking!: Until last Sunday, Speed has not had much luck in his home state of California. A blown engine relegated him to 41st at Fontana in February, while he could only muster a 37th-place finish at Infineon in Joe Nemechek’s No. 87 Camry.

Max Papis
Start: 15th; Finish: 35th

Summary: The Italian may have logged a very impressive 15th-place qualifying position, but unfortunately for Max Papis, Friday’s success did not translate into a strong run on Sunday. The GEICO Toyota hung strong for the first 50 laps but slowly fell to the back of the pack after that, two laps down by the time the drivers were on the 100th circuit. Still, Papis and team finished the race, as they have done in every event except one (Summer Atlanta) that they have entered in 2009.

Great Friday: Papis’s 15th-place qualifying effort was a career best for the Italian, who even bettered the efforts he turned in on his specialty tracks – Infineon and Watkins Glen.

UNOFFICIAL Raybestos Rookie Standings

Logano 210
Speed 186
Papis 121
Bean 11

Almost Rookie Recap

(These drivers are not official rookies because they made too many starts in 2008. For all intents and purposes, however, they are still basically Sprint Cup freshmen as they embark on their first full season in 2009.)

Marcos Ambrose came to southern California hoping to shake the intermediate-track blues that his team has suffered from all year. But for most of the weekend, it looked as though it would be the same old struggles from this group. The Aussie did not fare well during qualifying, turning in the 27th-best time. He did not progress forward from the middle of the pack for much of the first half of the race, either. However, as the sun came out, crew chief Frankie Kerr and team appeared to hit on something, as the No. 47 broke into the top 10 with just 43 laps to go.

Just when it seemed certain the Ambrose would fight for a top-10 finish, all hell broke loose with less than 10 laps remaining. Contact was made heading into turn 1, which turned the No. 88 Chevy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. down the track and into Ambrose. The crew was able to make repairs, however, and the Aussie was able to limp home to a 23rd-place finish.

Tony’s Take

The Pepsi 500 was about making the most out of a bad day for the rookie class. Both Logano and Speed looked out to lunch, but drivers and their teams kept working on their cars throughout the event. The “never give up” attitude placed both in position to get back on the lead lap, taking advantage of a wreck that eliminated many of the competitors ahead of them. It sure wasn’t a great day from a performance standpoint, but the results say otherwise. Turning a bad day into a half decent one is something that comes with experience, and these two drivers have appeared to learn the art in their young careers thus far.

Who Wasn’t Here? All rookie drivers who attempted the Pepsi 500 made the race. Kevin Hamlin, who was scheduled to attempt his second race in the No. 37 Dodge, was forced to step aside was he was not granted clearance by NASCAR to race a Cup car on the 2-mile oval.

UNOFFICIAL Driver Points Standings

17th – Marcos Ambrose (0)
20th – Joey Logano (0)
35th – Scott Speed (0)
41st – Brad Keselowski (-1, DNS)
42nd – Max Papis (+1)
44th – Aric Almirola (0, DNS)
53rd – Erik Darnell (0, DNS)
62nd – Dexter Bean (0, DNS)

Note – The discrepancy between the driver standings and owner points for Speed is due to the fact that John Andretti fell behind Speed in driver points after missing two events due to Indy 500 commitments, but his No. 34 team remained in 35th because of the efforts of Tony Raines in the time period.

Qualifying Next Week: Speed’s 21st-place run was good, but Andretti’s 19th-place finishing position was better as Speed fell further behind the Top-35 mark and will have to qualify on speed next week in Charlotte. Keselowski will also need to be fast enough to make his final start in Rick Hendrick’s No. 25 Chevy (he has one more start remaining in the No. 09). Papis will also attempt to make his third consecutive race on Saturday night.

Next Up: Everyone involved in the Sprint Cup Series will be hoping for much better weather when they return to Charlotte for the NASCAR Banking 500. Everyone remembers the rain-delayed/rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, where Logano recorded a very solid ninth-place finish after running well within the top five before the rains came. Speed also came home in the top 20 after running strong for most of the day. If the rookies adapted that well in their first visit to the track, I would expect them to do even better on the second.

Rookie Prediction Poll: This is a tough one. A resounding 87.5% of you thought that Ambrose would better his February Fontana finish (22nd), and you were right until the very end of the race. Ambrose saw a potential top-10 finish vanish through no fault of his own and missed his finish earlier this season by one spot.

This Week’s Prediction: As was previously documented, Logano and Speed return to a track where they enjoyed success at earlier this year. Keselowski did not run the Coca-Cola 600 and missed last year’s fall event at this venue when rain washed out qualifying. However, the No. 25 team has always seemed to run well on the quad-oval formation. Can Keselowski beat out both Logano and Speed at the NASCAR Banking 500?

Tony’s Rookie Prediction: Well, I backed into a correct prediction, as I did not think Ambrose would run well… and I was wrong. However, no matter how it happened, the end result was that Ambrose did not better his earlier finish at this track and I take the lead with just six polls left to run.

Keselowski has had some strong performances this year, including a good run at Kansas just two races ago. However, I think Logano will be too good to beat, and Speed should put up a good fight was well. I do not have confidence that Keselowski can beat both of them.

Rookie Poll Points: Readers 12, Tony 13

About the author

Tony Lumbis has headed the Marketing Department for Frontstretch since 2008. Responsible for managing our advertising portfolio, he deals with our clients directly, closing deals while helping promote the site’s continued growth both inside and outside the racing community through social media and traditional outlets. Tony is based outside Philadelphia.

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