Logano Limps Home With Overheating Issues at Darlington
May 12, 2013
THE RACE
The Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval, Darlington, S.C.) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Saturday, May 11, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Starting Position: 30
Finishing Position: 22
Status: Running
Current Championship Position: 19
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford in the 30th position for Saturday night’s Southern 500 at the legendary Darlington Raceway.
· Knowing that he had a better car than he qualified, Logano began to work his way up through the field, eventually finding himself positioned just inside the top 20.
· With just one caution flag over early 200 laps of green-flag action, and a couple of dominant cars up front, Logano’s No. 22 Ford and several other competitors fell a lap down.
· The handling of the Shell-Pennzoil Ford continued to improve and Logano was running lap times equal to cars in the top-five, however a lack of caution flag time kept Logano from getting his lap back, despite riding in the beneficiary position for nearly 60 laps.
· As the race wore on, Logano also began reporting some engine overheating. It got to the point to where Logano had to make multiple trips down pit road under caution to try and cool the engine down.
· Logano was able to limp home with a 22nd-place finish at the end of the 500-mile event.
· With his eighth top-five finish in his first 11 starts of the season Logano is now positioned 19th In the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver point standings.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
HOW DID THE 500-MILE RACE PLAY OUT FOR YOU?
“We were really in a hole from the very beginning when we didn’t put down the qualifying lap that we needed to. (That) put us in the back and having to make up track position early. And then you add up the really long green flag runs and that’s just a recipe for disaster. It’s frustrating because you know you have a car that is probably an eighth to 10th-place car based on the cars you are passing during the race, but when you are stuck a lap down and you can’t get it back because there are no cautions, you just get frustrated. I think we had a much better car than what we showed. I think we had a 10th-place car.”
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE ENGINE OVERHEATING?
“I don’t know, but it’s something we are going to have to look at and figure out. It was the same problem that we had in California and that one cost us a chance at the win. We seem to be filling up the grill openings with debris on these tracks and it just pegs the temperature. I really didn’t think we were going to make it to the end, but these Ford motors are tough. We are going to have to work on it though.”
The Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval, Darlington, S.C.) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Saturday, May 11, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Starting Position: 30
Finishing Position: 22
Status: Running
Current Championship Position: 19
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford in the 30th position for Saturday night’s Southern 500 at the legendary Darlington Raceway.
· Knowing that he had a better car than he qualified, Logano began to work his way up through the field, eventually finding himself positioned just inside the top 20.
· With just one caution flag over early 200 laps of green-flag action, and a couple of dominant cars up front, Logano’s No. 22 Ford and several other competitors fell a lap down.
· The handling of the Shell-Pennzoil Ford continued to improve and Logano was running lap times equal to cars in the top-five, however a lack of caution flag time kept Logano from getting his lap back, despite riding in the beneficiary position for nearly 60 laps.
· As the race wore on, Logano also began reporting some engine overheating. It got to the point to where Logano had to make multiple trips down pit road under caution to try and cool the engine down.
· Logano was able to limp home with a 22nd-place finish at the end of the 500-mile event.
· With his eighth top-five finish in his first 11 starts of the season Logano is now positioned 19th In the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver point standings.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
HOW DID THE 500-MILE RACE PLAY OUT FOR YOU?
“We were really in a hole from the very beginning when we didn’t put down the qualifying lap that we needed to. (That) put us in the back and having to make up track position early. And then you add up the really long green flag runs and that’s just a recipe for disaster. It’s frustrating because you know you have a car that is probably an eighth to 10th-place car based on the cars you are passing during the race, but when you are stuck a lap down and you can’t get it back because there are no cautions, you just get frustrated. I think we had a much better car than what we showed. I think we had a 10th-place car.”
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE ENGINE OVERHEATING?
“I don’t know, but it’s something we are going to have to look at and figure out. It was the same problem that we had in California and that one cost us a chance at the win. We seem to be filling up the grill openings with debris on these tracks and it just pegs the temperature. I really didn’t think we were going to make it to the end, but these Ford motors are tough. We are going to have to work on it though.”