Logano Runs Short On Fuel and Finishes 26th at Phoenix
March 4, 2013
THE RACE
The Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (one-mile oval, Avondale, AZ)
THE RESULTS
Starting Position: 32
Finishing Position: 26
Status: Running
Current Championship Position: 21
THE RACE REVIEW
·Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion started the race in the 32nd position following a mechanical issue in qualifying on Friday.
·Despite starting at the back of the field, it took Logano just 40 laps to work his way from 32nd to 13th place.
·For most of the afternoon, Logano ran between 10th and 15th position as the team and crew chief Todd Gordon worked to improve the handling of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford.
·In the final stages of the race, Logano put himself in position to grab his first top-10 finish with Penske Racing. While running 11th with just five laps remaining, however, the No. 22 machine ran out of fuel and Logano had to coast around the track with no power before he was able to return to pit lane.
·Despite the issues, Logano finished just one-lap down to the leaders, as he came home in 26th place at the checkered flag.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
“We are going to look into what happened to see if it was a fuel pickup problem or if we didn’t get all the fuel in the car that we thought we did on the last stop. It really came as a surprise to us. We thought we were good to go to the end. It’s a tough pill to swallow because we fought from behind all weekend long. This Shell-Pennzoil Ford deserved to be in the top 10 today. All we can do is learn and move forward.” – Joey Logano on running out of fuel toward the end of the race
“I’m really pleased with the way this team rebounded this weekend. We pretty much spotted the entire garage area a practice and qualifying session on Friday when we found a mechanical problem Friday night. We were behind the eight ball after that. But we didn’t get our heads down and we made the car better and it was good in the race. We just didn’t get the finish that we deserved for all of the hard work.” - Logano on the Phoenix weekend.