Joey Logano isn't sweating it....yet. But the question is still there -- too much too soon for this kid?

  
   Joey Logano: patience, patience, patience (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   MARTINSVILLE, Va.
   Remember that 'dart without feathers' line that an angry Tony Stewart threw at a rookie here a few years ago?
   Martinsville Speedway is an exercise in frustration for the best of these guys…and rookies just better stay the hell out of the way.
   Welcome to Martinsville, Joey Logano.
   The newest hot star in NASCAR hasn't done much to speak of the first two months of the year. That's probably not bad, considering what most rookies do is generally the wrong thing.
   Logano almost won that 150 at Daytona.
   But since then he's been flying below the radar.
   Pretty darned far below.
   Like 34th in the standings.
   Of course most of these places are brand new for the 18-year-old.  
   Still, the longer it takes Logano to make something happen, the more questions that will be raised – generally, is he in over his head, and should he have spent more time in other cars before moving up to Cup?
   Are owner Joe Gibbs and crew chief Greg Zipadelli trying to push the kid along too quickly.
   And remember what happened to youthful hotshot Kyle Busch in his early days…..
   Logano, though, seems to have a pretty laid back attitude about it. No pressure, at least that's the attitude he tries to exude.
   "Well, I was here when I was 12, and I ran an Allison 'Legacy' car a long time ago," Logano says. "This is so different I'm not sure that really counts.
    "It's your typical short-track, maybe more braking.  You slow down a ton.
    "I'm just going off (testing) Rockingham and the little track they built there that's supposed to be like this place.
"Now that we've had time to relax, and calm down, and look over all our stuff, there are a few places a driver can pick up…and places the car can pick up.
   "I feel pretty good."
    Last season Logano looked very strong in the Nationwide races he ran. This year, though, it's a lot harder.
   "When I jump over to the Nationwide car and run good, and you're up there and able to win, that's a confidence booster," Logano says.
   "Then (on the Cup side) you say 'Okay, I am here for a reason: I can drive. I don't stink.'
    "It's just a new game. 
    "These guys have been doing it for a while.  They know what it takes to make these cars go.
"We're going to get the hang of it eventually with this car, and get used to it. It doesn't come overnight.
"I didn't expect it to come overnight when the season started. 
"Looking back at the season -- last week the motor blew up. At Atlanta we got in a mess. Daytona (a crash early) was partially my fault.
   "But if you look at those finishes, you understand that's what pretty much put us back here. 
    "We should be 20-something in points, probably, if we didn't have those three bad finishes. 
"Last week we maybe gave up 15 spots.
    "Atlanta we probably gave up about 15 spots.
    "At Daytona we lost quite a bit. 
"We're better than where we're at.
"We've just got to keep solid finishes going and keep improving through the race.  That's something that's big for me right now --  that as the race gets going I get better. 
  "It's just that I've got to overcome what I lost in the beginning."