Never miss the chance to insert a Moody Blues reference, I say.  But I digress (and before even getting to the topic).

An excellent article by Jenna Fryer came out today mulling over the thought that Greg Biffle might be headed to Gibbs next year as Tony Stewart's replacement.  She lays out several sound reasons why this could be so: Biffle's intense competitive fire and primary focus on winning superseding all other considerations; his publicly expressed season-long frustration over equipment issues at Roush Fenway; how despite the oft-repeated chant from JGR that Stewart is under contract through next year he has one foot out the door and the other itching to follow.  Couple this with another point Fryer mentions, namely Biffle's lack of need for the spotlight, and it makes absolute sense why he would be a good fit at JGR since between Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin there's more than enough drama transpiring for one team.

Ah, but wait, one might think.  What of the wunderkind's wunderkind, the heir apparent, the Absolutely Positively Guaranteed Next Big Superduper Thing a/k/a Joey Logano?  Why, the moment he turns eighteen (or has he already  I forget) the NASCAR world is his oyster.  It must be true!  The PR says so!

While Logano's talent is from all accounts plentiful, it is Fryer's contention he will not be ready for a Cup ride next year and would be better served spending 2009 in apprenticeship at the Nationwide and/or truck level.  Logical; devoting a year to playing with some but not all of the big boys can only help, and if he's as great as he's being touted it will do no harm to let him run for a year in a less pressured atmosphere before throwing him into the lion's den of expectations running rampant.

But will logic win out?

Given the intense level of hype on Logano's behalf, including ads from NASCAR itself featuring him to the max ("don't miss this chance to follow the next big thing from the beginning!"), one can easily surmise that JGR will be sorely tempted to promote him straight into Cup as soon as possible.  He may be totally ready.  He may also be the next Casey Atwood, who in his teen years was widely heralded as a can't miss kid.  For the record, he missed.

How Logano will perform at the upper level obviously cannot be known until he actually straps into a Cup car.  Given how he'll have competitive equipment from the word go, this adds additional elements: the potential to win, and no option to claim the bad car excuse should he not perform up to -- there's that word again -- expectations.

It's always possible Biffle will re-up with Roush Fenway after all, making the entire subject moot.  In any case, it'll be fascinating to see how this plays out.  The logical path has been detailed.  Which one will be followed?  Stick around.  The drama has yet to begin.