A little history was made Sunday in New Hampshire as Joey Logano won the rain-shortened Sprint Cup race. The 19-year-old rookie and his crew gambled by staying out on the track while the rest of the field pitted for a fuel and tires. When the rains came, Logano was the first car behind the pace car and took the first checkered flag of his career.

In doing so, Logano became the first teenager to win a Sprint Cup race. The Joe Gibbs Racing team member delivered a win in his first season behind the wheel of the #20 Home Depot Toyota.

That ride was made famous by Tony Stewart, who left to form his own team after last season. Stewart seems to be doing OK on his own though. He has a 69-point lead over Jeff Gordon in the season series and his teammate, Ryan Newman, sits 8th in the quest for the twelve Chase slots. Though Logano isn’t in the top 12, his teammates Denny Hamlin (6th) and Kyle Busch (8th) are.

The top 12 is dominated by the top teams in the Sprint Cup Series. Joining Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart’s teams in the top echelon are Hendrick Motorsports (Jeff Gordon, 2nd; Jimmie Johnson, 3rd; and Mark Martin, 11th), and Roush Racing (Carl Edwards, 5th; Greg Biffle, 9th; and Matt Kenseth, 10th).

With only nine races remaining before the field is separated into championship contenders and the rest of the field, it looks like another season of status quo for NASCAR. And that isn’t necessarily a good thing.

One name missing from the Chase list of contenders is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The “king of retail” has a Hendrick Motorsports ride, great sponsorship, and the talent, but something is missing. Even with Rick Hendrick’s resources, consistency has been an issue with the #88 car the last season and a half.

Right now, Earnhardt sits 19th in points and knows that no driver has been as far back as he is right now, this late in the season, and still made the Chase. His fans will show in droves, but for how long?

NASCAR, the tracks and the television sponsors need Junior to make the Chase. Not to take anything away from the other drivers, but they simply aren’t Junior. Junior has had deals with adidas, Sony and Drakkar, taking NASCAR into new marketing arenas.

While wins by drivers like Logano are nice for the sport, what NASCAR needs right now is for Junior to make a dramatic climb up the standings. The television ratings are not as high as they were last year and there isn’t a buzz about the sport right now.

A quick check of the schedule shows that the haulers will be heading to Daytona for the annual 4th of July event. What better place than Daytona for Junior to break out of the doldrums, reignite his fan base and give SportsCenter something to lead with Saturday night?

Not that I think NASCAR would ever stoop to rooting for a particular driver or even bend the rules a bit (i.e. providing a larger restrictor plate to certain drivers to give a horsepower advantage), but if there ever was a race that had the makings of Hollywood script, this weekend’s race is it.

I can see it now: Junior in Victory Lane, “Junior Nation” going crazy, fireworks in the sky, cash registers ringing and TV executives smiling. Sounds like the perfect way for NASCAR to get back into the mainstream.

- Jim Clark

Photos: NASCAR Media Services