Logano Earns Top-Five Result at Kentucky Speedway
July 1, 2013
THE RACE
The Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile oval, Sparta, Kentucky)
Sunday, June 30
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Start Position: 11
Finish Position: 4
Status: Running
Current Driver's Points Position: 10
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team qualified 11th for the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
· Persistent rain showers on Saturday evening forced the postponement of the event until Sunday afternoon.
· When the race finally began Sunday, Logano moved into the 10th position and radioed that his car was “racey” in the corners.
· With early two-tire and four-tire stops, Logano got off of pit sequence from the rest of the field. He restarted the race on lap 63 in the 19th position and slowly started working his way back towards the front.
· Crew Chief Todd Gordon continued to make some big adjustments to the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford and the car’s performance began to improve. By lap 110, Logano had moved into the top three and just five laps later, he was in second chasing down the leader.
· Throughout the race, Logano was able to get some breaks on the timing of the caution flags and he kept the No. 22 Ford Fusion up front.
· Over the remainder of the afternoon, Logano never ran outside of the top five. During a late-race restart, Logano made a bold move from going into turn one, as he got his car under the No. 48 machine of Jimmie Johnson. The 48 car spun and Logano had to back out of the move and he lost all of his track position as a result of the evasive maneuver.
· With about 20 laps to go, Logano restarted the race in the seventh position and once again made a bold move on the restart as he got all the way up to fourth. He was able to hold on to the top-five finish as the checkered flags flew.
· With the fourth-place run – his fifth top-five of the season – Logano jumped four spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings into 10th place and in position to make the Chase.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
YOU RAN UP FRONT MOST OF THE DAY. TALK ABOUT THE RACE
“I felt like we were good enough to win for a little bit. I thought we were as good as the 20 (car) or even better. It is all about getting the clean air. It was hard to pass out there. The guys did a great job with the Shell Pennzoil Ford. We lost track position on the restart before the last one and then we made up a lot at the end. We were sitting pretty in fourth when the caution came out. I was hoping for one more caution because I thought I was in the cat-bird seat if that happened.”
The Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile oval, Sparta, Kentucky)
Sunday, June 30
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Start Position: 11
Finish Position: 4
Status: Running
Current Driver's Points Position: 10
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team qualified 11th for the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
· Persistent rain showers on Saturday evening forced the postponement of the event until Sunday afternoon.
· When the race finally began Sunday, Logano moved into the 10th position and radioed that his car was “racey” in the corners.
· With early two-tire and four-tire stops, Logano got off of pit sequence from the rest of the field. He restarted the race on lap 63 in the 19th position and slowly started working his way back towards the front.
· Crew Chief Todd Gordon continued to make some big adjustments to the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford and the car’s performance began to improve. By lap 110, Logano had moved into the top three and just five laps later, he was in second chasing down the leader.
· Throughout the race, Logano was able to get some breaks on the timing of the caution flags and he kept the No. 22 Ford Fusion up front.
· Over the remainder of the afternoon, Logano never ran outside of the top five. During a late-race restart, Logano made a bold move from going into turn one, as he got his car under the No. 48 machine of Jimmie Johnson. The 48 car spun and Logano had to back out of the move and he lost all of his track position as a result of the evasive maneuver.
· With about 20 laps to go, Logano restarted the race in the seventh position and once again made a bold move on the restart as he got all the way up to fourth. He was able to hold on to the top-five finish as the checkered flags flew.
· With the fourth-place run – his fifth top-five of the season – Logano jumped four spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings into 10th place and in position to make the Chase.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
YOU RAN UP FRONT MOST OF THE DAY. TALK ABOUT THE RACE
“I felt like we were good enough to win for a little bit. I thought we were as good as the 20 (car) or even better. It is all about getting the clean air. It was hard to pass out there. The guys did a great job with the Shell Pennzoil Ford. We lost track position on the restart before the last one and then we made up a lot at the end. We were sitting pretty in fourth when the caution came out. I was hoping for one more caution because I thought I was in the cat-bird seat if that happened.”