Logano Scores a Top-5 Under the Lights at Richmond
April 28, 2013
THE RACE
The Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile, D-shaped oval, Richmond, Va.)
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Start Position: 7
Finish Position: 3
Status: Running
Current Championship Position: 17
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the seventh position for Saturday night’s race at Richmond.
· In the first 20 laps, Logano made his way into the top five, settling into the fifth position. However, a tight-handling condition began to plague the team and it continued to be an issue for Logano for most of the race.
· Logano fought the handling of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford most of the night despite the changes crew chief Todd Gordon made to the car. Just past the halfway point of the race, Logano found himself mired in the 20th position on the track.
· Things began to turn around for Logano as he found himself running back inside the top 10 by lap 335. It appeared Logano was going to have to settle for a sixth-place finish before a late-race caution set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.
· Logano came to the pits for four tires and restarted the race in the 11th position for the final two-lap run. Over the course of the final laps, Logano was able to work his way through the field and took advantage of some contact ahead of him to grab a third-place finish, his third top-five result this season.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
TALK ABOUT YOUR THIRD-PLACE FINISH
“It wasn’t pretty for a while, that’s for sure. It looked like at the beginning of the race we were going to finish 20th. We were going backwards, but Todd Gordon made some good adjustments and got some speed back in the car. Then we had to work to get our track position back and before that last caution I think we were sixth or so, and, really, that was going to be a good finish for where we ran most of the day. We put four tires on it and got in the right lane on that restart and I think that’s what meant a lot. Getting to the bottom and watching all these guys on old tires and new tires – everybody was rooting and gouging each other out of the way and I was able to just go to the bottom and pass cars and follow (second-place finisher Clint) Bowyer pretty much right through the whole pack.”
ON HIS TEAM’S EFFORT
“I’m super proud of these guys. These guys are awesome. This never-quit attitude got us through this whole weekend from the time we unloaded all the way to the time we leave. To take a race that was going like that and be able to change it over and come home third, I couldn’t be more proud of these Shell/Pennzoil guys.”
The Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile, D-shaped oval, Richmond, Va.)
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Start Position: 7
Finish Position: 3
Status: Running
Current Championship Position: 17
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the seventh position for Saturday night’s race at Richmond.
· In the first 20 laps, Logano made his way into the top five, settling into the fifth position. However, a tight-handling condition began to plague the team and it continued to be an issue for Logano for most of the race.
· Logano fought the handling of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford most of the night despite the changes crew chief Todd Gordon made to the car. Just past the halfway point of the race, Logano found himself mired in the 20th position on the track.
· Things began to turn around for Logano as he found himself running back inside the top 10 by lap 335. It appeared Logano was going to have to settle for a sixth-place finish before a late-race caution set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.
· Logano came to the pits for four tires and restarted the race in the 11th position for the final two-lap run. Over the course of the final laps, Logano was able to work his way through the field and took advantage of some contact ahead of him to grab a third-place finish, his third top-five result this season.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
TALK ABOUT YOUR THIRD-PLACE FINISH
“It wasn’t pretty for a while, that’s for sure. It looked like at the beginning of the race we were going to finish 20th. We were going backwards, but Todd Gordon made some good adjustments and got some speed back in the car. Then we had to work to get our track position back and before that last caution I think we were sixth or so, and, really, that was going to be a good finish for where we ran most of the day. We put four tires on it and got in the right lane on that restart and I think that’s what meant a lot. Getting to the bottom and watching all these guys on old tires and new tires – everybody was rooting and gouging each other out of the way and I was able to just go to the bottom and pass cars and follow (second-place finisher Clint) Bowyer pretty much right through the whole pack.”
ON HIS TEAM’S EFFORT
“I’m super proud of these guys. These guys are awesome. This never-quit attitude got us through this whole weekend from the time we unloaded all the way to the time we leave. To take a race that was going like that and be able to change it over and come home third, I couldn’t be more proud of these Shell/Pennzoil guys.”