The freshest face in NASCAR

Yes, it would be easy for me to blog about last night’s games involving Boston teams, with the Bruins, the Celtics and the Red Sox all winning, but I watched something over the weekend that really impressed me.

Joey Logano, who turns 19 in a few weeks, led the Southern 500 for 19 laps on Saturday night at Darlington Speedway. He finished ninth, but that’s not the point. Think about what you were doing at 19. I was taking psychology 101 and unsuccessfully hitting on co-eds.

He’s hitting better than 200 mph in the No. 20 Home Depot car formerly driven by Tony Stewart. Judging by his post-race quotes, it’s apparent Logano is still wet behind the ears.

“I led laps in the Southern 500. I was stoked about that,” he said.

Other drivers, including Stewart, see this as the tip of the iceberg for rookie from Middletown, Conn.

“This kid did an awesome job,” Stewart said of Logano. “When he was leading the race, I was smiling because I knew those guys have been waiting for this for a couple weeks now. It was just a matter of time before Joey got going.”

I don’t consider myself a huge fan of NASCAR, but I can see why this would be exciting for those fans glued to the television on Sundays. It’s the equivalent of LeBron James making the leap from high school to the NBA. Or Jennifer Capriati winning a Grand Slam event at 13. Or Freddie Adu making his MLS debut at 14.

Just a heck of a lot faster.