Rookie of the year candidates Joey Logano and Scott Speed are both Sprint Cup newcomers and drive Toyotas. That’s where the similarities between the two stop. One’s sliced bread; the other is a croissant.
Joey Logano:
On Logano’s 18th birthday last May, Joe Gibbs and J.D. Gibbs wheeled in a cake shaped like a stock car dressed up to look like the Nationwide car Logano had just turned old enough to drive.
They were opening a news conference, but before that they wanted everyone in the room to sing “Happy Birthday” in celebration of the day Logano was finally old enough to race in NASCAR’s national series.
The Gibbs’ were on their own on that one, but Logano’s 18th birthday was one of the most anticipated in racing. Three years earlier Mark Martin had hailed Logano, a native of Connecticut, as the next big thing. Ever since then everyone wanted to know: Is he as good as they say?
Scott Speed:
He’s neither afraid to tell the world his toenails are painted blue, nor talk about how clueless he is sometimes about NASCAR terminology.
Speed, a 26-year-old from California, has dyed his hair white, put it in a mohawk and often keeps it under a hat that looks like something off a railroad conductor’s head. He’s fashionable, in a very European sense, and sometimes that gets him in trouble.
He spent last season in ARCA cars, trucks and five Cup races. Speed’s best Cup finish was a 16th place at Homestead. He wrecked in his first Cup race this season, in the same incident that took out Logano.
“My confidence as a race car driver is amazing,” Speed said. “You put me in an open-wheel car and I’m going to wheel it.”
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