Joey Logano was winning a lot of Nationwide races.
Nothing wrong with that.But it took his Sprint Cup win Sunday at Pocono to take some of the pressure off of him in a contract year with Joe Gibbs Racing.He showed he might yet deliver on the enormous promise he showed three years ago when he won a rain-shortened Sprint Cup race in Loudon, N.H., as a 19-year-old.He hadn't won since. But he had kept a job."It's pressure all the time," he said in a conference call with reporters this week following the victory, his first in 125 races since that day in Loudon. "So whether it's a contract year or not, you're always out there to do the same thing. So for me, I'm out there to win every race, and that doesn't change from what it was this year or three years ago."So there's no added pressure to that. Is there something extra on your mind? Yeah, there's something extra on your mind that you have to figure out before the season is over. But at the same time, you go out there and focus on your job."Focusing on the job matters for Logano, 22, who is trying to get the most experience he can, even now in his fourth full year in Sprint Cup, by running as many Nationwide races as possible.It's a good experience so far. He's won four times in the Nationwide Series, including two weeks ago in Dover, Del."It's a lot of fun to run Nationwide races," Logano said. "I have a lot of fun doing it. You're always really busy, running from practice to practice and a lot of cars and all that, and it can get confusing. So you just have to make sure you take your time and focus in on each car. I just think it's a game to be able to do it, and Dover for me has been one of my better racetracks in the past, too, so I felt like either way we were going to have some good runs."Counting the Nationwide and Cup victories, Logano has been in Victory Lane five times in nine weeks. That's a good stat for his job evaluation, isn't it?"My job is to go out there to win races, so as long as I do that, all of that will come together pretty easily," he said. "I just have to keep focusing on what's most important, and that's this year, right now, and all of the stuff will kind of follow when it needs to."Back to Texas?It looks as though the relationship between the IndyCar Series and Texas Motor Speedway has warmed up.TMS president Eddie Gossage said Wednesday the series has asked him about hosting the season finale this year, now that the Aug. 19 race in China has been canceled.That leaves a race to make up on the schedule. The IndyCar season finale is now set for Sept. 15 at Fontana, Calif.TMS has a NASCAR race weekend in November, and Gossage said the timing of the IndyCar race has to be figured out."A September or early October date could pose several obstacles on a variety of fronts that we would have to consider before making a decision," Gossage said. "Considering the shrinking window to properly promote the season finale to its fullest, we will have to make a decision fairly quickly."Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7407Twitter: @calexmendez
Pit stops
Who's hot: Matt Kenseth. He's the new leader in the Sprint Cup points standings. He took over from Greg Biffle after finishing seventh at Pocono on Sunday. In the past five races, he has been seventh, third, 10th, sixth and third. He's run all but one lap this year.
Who's not: Jason White. The 33-year-old from Richmond, Va., has finished 17th and 33rd in his past two starts in the Camping World Truck Series, dropping him out of the top 10 in the driver standings. In four full-time seasons in the truck series, he has finished in the top 10 once.
Series updates
Sprint Cup
Drought track: Michigan is one of five tracks where Jimmie Johnson has not won. He came closest in June 2009, when he caught leader Greg Biffle on the last lap and ran out of gas.
In the top 10: Brad Keselowski is in the top 10 in points for the first time this year. He was a wild-card entry into the Chase last year.
Still No. 1: Matt Kenseth replaced Greg Biffle as the points leader, but for Roush Fenway Racing, it's another week at the top. It's 12 consecutive races now.
Nationwide
Top-10 roll: Justin Allgaier has three consecutive top-10 finishes, a first for him in two years. He was sixth at Iowa, eighth at Charlotte and fourth at Dover. At Michigan, he has an average finish of eighth.
Busy schedule: The Nationwide schedule hits a stretch of 16 consecutive race weeks.
Camping World Trucks
1-2 finish: ThorSport Racing took first and second at last week's WinStar World Casino 400 with Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. They did the same thing in 2009 at Las Vegas.
Winners record: Seven different drivers have won to start the season, a record for the truck series.
IndyCar Series
Something new: IndyCar is putting a twist on qualifying for the June 23 race at Iowa. Three 30-lap heats will decide the starting grid for the .875-mile oval. IndyCar officials said it is only an experiment to try to spice up qualifying.
NHRA
Century mark: Greg Anderson's Pro Stock victory last week at Englishtown gave Summit Racing owner Ken Black his 100th victory.
17The starting position for Justin Wilson, Saturday's winner at the Firestone 500. It's the record for lowest starting position by an IndyCar winner at Texas Motor Speedway.
Quotable
"We've really bonded, and I feel so comfortable. Morgan's had a lot of success, and we've had a lot of success, so I'm just very fortunate to be over here. It's different, but it's a good different." NHRA drag racer Brandon Bernstein, winless since 2009, on joining Morgan Lucas Racing this year. He had always raced for his father, the "King of Speed," Kenny Bernstein.
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
