DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- One is only 24 years old, the other 28.

But to Joey Logano, who at age 18 is by far the youngest Sprint Cup driver in the Joe Gibbs Racing stable, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin acted like more than just big brothers during the final hours leading up to Sunday's Daytona 500.

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On Friday, in the next-to-last Cup practice at Daytona International Speedway, Busch actually climbed into Logano's No. 20 Toyota to get a real feel for the Cup rookie's setup (watch video). On both Friday and again during Saturday's final practice, Hamlin spent seemingly more time in Logano's ear offering advice than he did worrying about fine-tuning his own No. 11 Toyota.

It helped -- Logano, that is -- that the crew chiefs for both Busch and Hamlin decided not to take their respective cars onto the track for practice Friday. Busch also severely limited the time he spent on the track during Saturday's Happy Hour, running only 17 laps in an effort to keep the mileage down on his No. 18 Toyota -- the same car with which he won his 150-mile Gatorade Duel on Thursday.

"It was an opportunity where the 18 and ourselves were not going to run anyway [on Friday], and we knew that the 20 needed track time," said Hamlin, at 28 suddenly the senior driver in the JGR stable. "So if we weren't doing anything, it was best for us to come over [to the 20 hauler] and try to help him get the feel in the car that he needed."

In the short run, it appears to have worked. The real truth, however, won't be known until after Sunday's 500.

In Saturday's final practice, Logano ended up running the fastest lap of the JGR trio -- peaking at 190.448 mph, a time that ranked as eighth-fastest among all drivers who took part. The top seven speeds were posted by Reed Sorenson (191.575 mph), Matt Kenseth (191.042 mph), Kurt Busch (190.815 mph), Juan Montoya (190.571 mph), Greg Biffle (190.718 mph) and David Ragan (190.525 mph).

Busch's top speed of 189.757 mph was 12th-fastest of the 41 drivers who got on the track Saturday. Hamlin's top effort of 189.832 mph ranked 17th on the chart. (complete speeds).

“

The biggest thing is just trying to get Joey comfortable.

”

KYLE BUSCH

Logano said he appreciated the advice of his teammates, and that he hopes to put it to practical use during Sunday's event -- his first Daytona 500.

"We've just been trying to get a feel for it. I don't know; it's just not that easy," Logano said. "I think they've helped me out so much and I am so thankful for them right now.

"Kyle jumped in the car [Friday]. He was getting a feel for it and seeing if we had the same comments. Denny has been helping me out, just talking about all the stuff. It's been really good."

Jimmy Makar, vice president of JGR, said he has been impressed by the way all three drivers are working together at this early stage in their time together.

"The big thing and part of being a team like this and having multiple cars is that you have the opportunity to learn from each other," Makar said. "This has just been a great opportunity for those guys to get together and talk and understand the car, to help accelerate Joey's learning curve a little bit. It's like Zippy [Greg Zipadelli, Logano's crew chief] said a little bit ago: we're shoving an elephant down his throat in a short period of time to try to get him up to speed, so he will know what to expect here come [Sunday's race]."

Busch said he's glad to help, to a point.

"The biggest thing is just trying to get Joey comfortable," Busch said. "He got his car to where it was comfortable for him to drive, but it didn't have the speed it needed. It wasn't going to keep up in the draft.

"For me, to get in there and feel that and let him know that should help. We have to get him back to where he's a little looser, and he just doesn't like loose. He doesn't know where the cars can be hung out yet. He doesn't have the feel for the air and how these cars drive and how erratic they are. It's just about buying time with him and trying to get him accustomed to what I'm driving, what he's driving and what he needs to feel in his car."

But when he was asked how much he intends to assist Logano in Sunday's actual race, Busch made it clear that the rookie will have to do a good bit on his own to keep up for any of that to happen. Helping out in practice is one thing; doing so during the heat of an actual race is another altogether.

"If he gets his car driving better and can keep up, then we'll work with him," Busch said. "If you can't keep up in this draft -- and with all of these guys -- then you can't waste time trying to help a teammate that's hurting your performance."