By Seth Sharp – The 2014 Sprint Cup season might have ended in disappointment for @JoeyLogano after a 16th place finish at Homestead, but his success over the full season elevated him to the edge of superstardom.

Logano’s numbers throughout the first few years of his career have rivaled that of another former young star, four-time Cup champion @JeffGordonWeb. While Logano and Gordon took different development paths to get to the Sprint Cup series, the similarities between the two drivers from age 21 to 24 are nearly identical.

Gordon started his career solely in the Busch Series and didn’t make his Cup debut until he had two full seasons of experience under his belt. He drove 62 races before the 1993 season, where he turned 22 years old. In those events, he went to Victory Lane three times while compiling 15 top-fives, 25 top-10s and sitting on the pole 12 times.

Logano made his Cup debut in 2009 after driving 19 Nationwide Series races the previous season. By the 2012 season where Logano turned 22, he had made 88 Nationwide starts, winning nine times, picking up 41 top-fives, 69 top-10s and winning 16 poles.

The close comparisons begin during the season each driver turned 22 years old. Logano’s fast track to the Cup Series allowed him to drive in 111 races before the season where he turned 22 while Gordon only drove one race during the same span.

Age 21-22 Seasons

Jeff Gordon in 1993

30 races

0 wins

7 top-fives

11 top-10s

1 pole

230 laps led

14th place finish in points

17.7 average finish

Joey Logano in 2012

36 races

1 win

2 top-fives

12 top-10s (33%)

2 poles

190 laps led

17th place finish in points

17.4 average finish

Age 22-23 season

Jeff Gordon in 1994

31 races

2 wins

7 top-fives

14 top-10s

1 pole

446 laps led

8th place finish in points

15.8 average finish

Joey Logano in 2013

36 races

1 win

11 top-fives

19 top-10s

2 poles

323 laps led

8th place finish in points

14.1 average finish

Age 23-24 season

Jeff Gordon in 1995

31 races

7 wins

17 top-fives

23 top-10s

8 poles

2610 laps led

1st place finish in points

9.5 average finish

Joey Logano in 2014

36 races

5 wins

16 top-fives

22 top-10s

1 pole

993 laps led

4th place finish in points

11.3 average finish

It is noted that the competition level between the two different eras is vastly different, which brings the gap on some of these statistics even closer. On average, Logano competed against three to five more competitive cars per season than Gordon did per season.

Drivers with at least 10 top-five finishes

1993 to 1995- 5 per season

2012 to 2014- 8.6 per season

Drivers with at least 15 top-10 finishes

1993 to 1995- 7.3 per season

2012 to 2014- 12 per season

Drivers with an average finish of 15th or better

1993 to 1995- 8 per season

2012 to 2014- 12 per season

Drivers with at least one victory

1993 to 1995- 11 per season

2012 to 2014- 14.6 per season

Over this span of their careers, Logano and Gordon showed huge strides each season. The only thing separating their careers from being statistically identical at this point is a championship, which Gordon won in 1995 as a 24-year-old. Logano fought hard the entire season, keeping his car in contention for his first title until the final laps of the season.

As his sixth full season has come to a close, Logano has proved to the world that he has the talent to win every week and contend for Sprint Cup titles. He will head to Daytona in 2015 following the path of a legends success, on the verge of greatness of his own.

EMAIL SETH AT seth.sharp@popularspeed.com

FOLLOW SETH ON TWITTER: @NASCARMemories