There was nowhere to go but up this season for Joey Logano, who had a roller-coaster rookie season as the youngest driver at NASCAR's top level.

He bounced off the walls at Daytona and barrel-rolled his car at Dover. He struggled with setups, didn't understand the language his teammates used to describe their cars and often dreaded going to the track.

That he finished the year with one victory, seven top 10s and a 20th-place finish in the final standings was nothing short of a small miracle.

"There were a lot of weekends last year where we were in nothing more than survival mode," crew chief Greg Zipadelli said.

So Logano's solid start to his second season has not been lost on anyone. That 43rd-place finish in his inaugural Daytona 500 was improved to a 20th-place this year. And he was 26th last season at California, but upgraded that last week to fifth.

It took Logano 17 races last season to notch his first top-five finish.

Much of it is credited to just how much Logano, 19, learned over that rocky first year. But there's also a new confidence that comes with the teenager getting comfortable in NASCAR.

"I feel more excited to come to the race tracks," he said. "Last year, oh boy, California, we stunk there. I didn't know if I wanted to go there. Now, you look at these places and you're excited to go back to the race track because you think you're going to have a good race car. We're going to be good.

"That's the biggest thing. You're more pumped up about coming to the race track."

Logano came into Las Vegas Speedway this week ranked ninth in the Sprint Cup standings, higher than teammates Kyle Busch (13th) and Denny Hamlin (22nd).

"I think it's cool," Logano said. "I was excited, ninth in points. Last year I would have been happy with 20th in points at this point in the season, so ninth is cool. I was joking around because I wished they'd start the Chase now. But we still have a long ways to go."

First up is the race today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Logano will start sixth. Kurt Busch, a Las Vegas native, will start from the pole as 18 drivers beat the qualifying track record.

Kevin Harvick overcame two horrendous pit stops to win the Nationwide race at Las Vegas. Harvick led 83 of the 200 laps Saturday, but had to rally back into the lead after his crew cost him several spots on pit road. Denny Hamlin was second, followed by Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers. Danica Patrick wrecked about halfway through the race when she ran into the lapped car of Michael McDowell.

Michael Schumacher believes Fernando Alonso and former team Ferrari are the favorites going into the season. Schumacher, who drives for Mercedes, said there are "several teams that look very competitive" but the Ferrari duo of Alonso and Felipe Massa "at the moment, look the target."

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