Logano ready to make good

— -- HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Mark Martin knew. He just didn't know how long it would take.

Joey Logano had no idea, either. And it would have been unfair to expect otherwise. Although a man among boys racing grassroots stock cars series nearly a decade ago when Martin deemed him ready for Sprint Cup, declaring that "without a doubt that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR," Logano was still just an awkward, gangly 15-year-old.

But Martin knew. Even before Logano, at 15, became the youngest to win in the USAR Cup series, Martin knew.

"There are so many things in the world I don't know, it's ridiculous, but I knew racing pretty well," said Martin, whose son, Matt, raced against Logano. "There was no doubt, not a shadow of a doubt in my mind."

And on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, ESPN and WatchESPN), Logano could validate the praise and fulfill the expectations Martin first foisted on him.

The journey has not been as gilded as the nickname -- "Sliced Bread," as in greatest thing since -- or the opportunities with powerhouse race teams like Joe Gibbs Racing or Penske would suggest. But the outcome, were he to finally win that virtually preordained championship after six seasons at NASCAR's highest level, would be even more cherished.

"My whole career, racing was easy," Logano said. "When you are the best one out there, it is easy. When you get to the level where you aren't the best one out there and you are against the best of the best and all of a sudden you have to take a step back and ask where you are the worst and what you have to work on, that was step one, figuring out where you aren't good and then working on it from there.

"It has been quite a few years of a process. I am still not done with it. You always try to find that next bit. It has been an adventure so far and I am loving every minute."

Logano has had much to love in his second consecutive Chase for the Sprint Cup. He's been oppressively consistent, winning twice in the Chase -- tied with title foe Kevin Harvick and teammate Brad Keselowski in the category -- and posting an average finish of 5.3 that leads all title hopefuls.

His record on 1.5-mile tracks, like the site of the Sunday final, is also cause for optimism, as he has two wins and leads all drivers with an average finish of 5.8 and six top-5s this season.

The Team Penske driver has finished ahead of Harvick and fellow hopefuls Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman 10 times this season and would win a championship with one more such output.

Logano has finished outside the top 10 just twice in the Chase -- 11th at Talladega and 12th at Texas -- but salvaged a season-saving sixth-place result last week in the elimination race at Phoenix after being penalized when a gas can lodged in his No. 22 Ford and was dragged from the pit box.

And Talladega might have an asterisk, anyway, or at least a karmic dog ear, according to Harvick. Attempting to either muddle his competitor's thinking or inject some intrigue into a moribund contenders' press event in Doral on Wednesday, Harvick chastised Logano for driving like a "moving chicane" as Keselowski snatched a win at Talladega to advance to the third round of the Chase.

"It was just him playing head games. That is all it is," Logano said.

NASCAR has seemingly been doing that for a long time. Logano was all but set to begin his NASCAR career with Roush Fenway Racing in 2005 after developing an unofficial relationship with the team for which Martin drove from 1988-2006.

But he bolted at age 15 for Joe Gibbs Racing, with whom he finished his USAR Cup career and won the K&N East Series championship in 2007. Logano stills deems his move to Gibbs "a blessing."

Philosophical differences between then-RFR president Geoff Smith -- centering on a reticence to sign teens -- and Logano's father, Tom, had prompted the move away from Roush.

Tom Logano said at the time that "the unfortunate thing about this whole thing is Mark Martin doesn't own Roush Racing. Because if he did, we never would have moved."

After running a partial Nationwide schedule in 2008, winning at Kentucky in his third start in the series, Joey Logano flailed after being anointed to replace Tony Stewart -- who left to drive for his own team -- in the No. 20 Toyota beginning in 2009.

He was cast off after four fruitless seasons in which he won twice and never finished better than 16th in points, replaced last season by 2003 series champion Matt Kenseth, another driver that Martin had discovered and led to RFR.

"I went through a lot over there and learned a lot about how to become a man and how to become a racer. You definitely can see the results coming out now," Logano said of his time at Gibbs. "It took a while, but as it should. I was 18 years old. That was hard."

Martin admitted that there were times during Logano's travails at JGR when he wondered if Logano would reach his full potential.

"Because perception is everything and he was perceived for a while to not be the greatest thing since sliced bread after all," he said. "That's how he was perceived when he went through his time in the 20 car. He had to step into the 20 car too early and it would have helped a little bit if he had been given a little bit more time.

"He still could have had more success than he had, but the pieces of the puzzle just didn't fit right. It took him longer than one would have expected but now he's living up to his potential in everyone else's eyes."

Logano got his next chance when he was recruited by and signed to join Penske, finishing a career-best eighth in points in 2013.

Though Logano is a six-year veteran of the Cup series, at 24 years, five months and 23 days he would become the youngest driver to win a Cup title since Jeff Gordon in 1995 and the third younger than 25. Yet because of the journey to this potential career-defining moment, he said, "I don't feel like I am a kid anymore."

Martin, who has returned to RFR as a driver coach after dabbling in partial retirement since 2006, said he remains fond of Tom Logano, but doesn't maintain a relationship with his protégé.

"Things evolve and people evolve and everybody goes their own separate ways," said Martin, who had Joey Logano bump-and-run him out of a win at Pocono in 2012. "I was pretty active trying to help him get to NASCAR. Once he got to NASCAR, it was more in his hands."

Mark Martin knew. But the rest is up to Logano.