Teammates pitch in to help Logano prep for first 500

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.

What pressure?

The expectations may be great for Joey Logano, but for right now the pressure is not, so say Joe Gibbs Racing officials.

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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. (Continued)