AVONDALE, Ariz. -- A few months earlier, it could have ruined their entire weekend. Joey Logano qualified 20th last week at Texas, admittedly one of his most difficult tracks, and earlier the frustration over that one lap would have been capable of consuming the No. 20 team for the full three days. There may have been tension between the driver and crew chief, the crew may have come in the next morning still fuming, and a program trying to take the next step may have found itself in for another long, disheartening race day.

This time, though, none of that happened.

“

It's hard. He's 20 years old. You think OK, you made it to this level, it's all about men, you can just suck it up and be done with it. But it's not like that.

”

-- GREG ZIPADELLI

"We were fine," Logano said a week later at Phoenix International Raceway. "We kept our heads up, we were going to be OK. We struggled in practice all last week, and on the last run we finally got it. We had one of the best runs we've had all year. We led laps, had a shot at it and finished fourth. That's really all you can ask for is to have a shot at these things. It's fun to be able to do that."

Logano is having a lot of fun these days, enjoying his best sustained stretch at the Sprint Cup level as his sophomore season nears its end. Lost amid the furor of the three-headed championship race is the fact that the young Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been on a tear since Richmond, compiling seven finishes of 11th or better over that nine-race span, results many drivers in the Chase would be happy to take. The late surge gives Logano a shot at a top-15 final points finish -- right now, he's 12 behind Ryan Newman -- and at least raises the possibility of a breakthrough playoff appearance for the 20-year-old next season.

What's happened? Crew chief Greg Zipadelli says the cars are better, that the team isn't making the small mistakes that cost it better results earlier in the year, that Logano is growing a little more seasoned as he visits the same race tracks again and again. But so much of it goes back to the driver's seat, and the twin issues of communication and confidence. Toward the end of their second season together, Logano and Zipadelli are better learning how to push each others' buttons without shutting one another off. And Logano has discovered a measure of consistency at NASCAR's highest level as a result.

"His confidence is as good as it's ever been as far as over here [in the Cup Series]," said Zipadelli, who won two championships with Tony Stewart. "He actually runs better over here right now than he has in the Nationwide car."

Logano has been a part of the landscape for so long, it's hard to remember sometimes just how young he is compared to most other drivers in the up garage. Zipadelli had worked so long with Stewart that the two often joked their relationship was more like a marriage, complete with heated arguments and occasional blowups on the radio. They were both experienced, confident, thick-skinned men who knew how to let things roll off them. When Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing to form his own team, Zipadelli was paired with a then-18-year-old Logano, who feeds off positive reinforcement. Figuring one another out took time. (Continued)