Logano Scores a Top-5 Finish at the Monster Mile
September 30, 2013
THE RACE
AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval, Dover, Del.)
Sunday, September 29, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven By Joey Logano
Start Position: 11
Finish Position: 3
Status: Running
Current Driver's Points Position: 12
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford 11th for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
· As the race began, Logano reported that the car was handling tight in the center of the corners. Despite the tight condition, Logano was able to hold position just inside the top 10 for the first 40 laps of the race.
· Logano fell back to 13th following his first pit stop, but spent the next 80 laps racing his way up to fourth place.
· All afternoon long, Logano found himself in the bottom lane on race restarts, which cost him several positions on each restart.
· As the race wore on, crew chief Todd Gordon continued to make minor adjustments to the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford and the speed showed on the track as Logano ran between fifth and eighth place.
· For nearly 100 laps, during a long green-flag stretch, Logano ran a solid sixth and talked over the final adjustments that could be made with Gordon. A pit stop with 90 laps to go set up what could have been the final run to the finish.
· A late-race caution allowed all 11 cars on the lead lap to visit pit road. Gordon opted to take four tires as Logano returned to the track in the sixth position.
· On the final restart, Logano made a bold move from sixth to third. Despite the benefit of the four new tires, Logano wasn’t able to close in on first or second as he earned a third-place finish.
· Logano’s strong result marked his ninth top-five finish of the season. He remains 12th in the Sprint Cup Series point standings with seven races to go in the Chase.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOEY LOGANO
YOU RAN IN THE TOP 10 ALL RACE LONG. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY?
“Yesterday we ended practice and our car wasn’t very good. We didn’t have much speed in it and Todd Gordon and the whole Shell-Pennzoil team did a good job of making it better overnight. They threw everything at this car last night - three springs, bars, shocks, you name it - we changed just about everything on this race car and it was definitely better to start the race. We had to make some adjustments as we got going and as the race went along we turned into a top-five car, I think, and just had to get that track position. On the last restart, starting on the outside was a good lane to have and having four tires was also the right call that Todd made. I was able to capitalize on the restart, get ourselves up to third, but the problem was it just took us too long to get up to speed. Fifteen laps into the run the car took off and the last six or seven laps we were the fastest car on the track, but we were a little too little, too late. I could barely see the leaders and the only shot I had at beating them was if they ran into each other or slipped up a lot and I was able to make something up, but I just couldn’t get there in time. Maybe if the race was another 40 laps I may have gotten there.”
AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval, Dover, Del.)
Sunday, September 29, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven By Joey Logano
Start Position: 11
Finish Position: 3
Status: Running
Current Driver's Points Position: 12
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford 11th for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
· As the race began, Logano reported that the car was handling tight in the center of the corners. Despite the tight condition, Logano was able to hold position just inside the top 10 for the first 40 laps of the race.
· Logano fell back to 13th following his first pit stop, but spent the next 80 laps racing his way up to fourth place.
· All afternoon long, Logano found himself in the bottom lane on race restarts, which cost him several positions on each restart.
· As the race wore on, crew chief Todd Gordon continued to make minor adjustments to the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford and the speed showed on the track as Logano ran between fifth and eighth place.
· For nearly 100 laps, during a long green-flag stretch, Logano ran a solid sixth and talked over the final adjustments that could be made with Gordon. A pit stop with 90 laps to go set up what could have been the final run to the finish.
· A late-race caution allowed all 11 cars on the lead lap to visit pit road. Gordon opted to take four tires as Logano returned to the track in the sixth position.
· On the final restart, Logano made a bold move from sixth to third. Despite the benefit of the four new tires, Logano wasn’t able to close in on first or second as he earned a third-place finish.
· Logano’s strong result marked his ninth top-five finish of the season. He remains 12th in the Sprint Cup Series point standings with seven races to go in the Chase.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOEY LOGANO
YOU RAN IN THE TOP 10 ALL RACE LONG. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY?
“Yesterday we ended practice and our car wasn’t very good. We didn’t have much speed in it and Todd Gordon and the whole Shell-Pennzoil team did a good job of making it better overnight. They threw everything at this car last night - three springs, bars, shocks, you name it - we changed just about everything on this race car and it was definitely better to start the race. We had to make some adjustments as we got going and as the race went along we turned into a top-five car, I think, and just had to get that track position. On the last restart, starting on the outside was a good lane to have and having four tires was also the right call that Todd made. I was able to capitalize on the restart, get ourselves up to third, but the problem was it just took us too long to get up to speed. Fifteen laps into the run the car took off and the last six or seven laps we were the fastest car on the track, but we were a little too little, too late. I could barely see the leaders and the only shot I had at beating them was if they ran into each other or slipped up a lot and I was able to make something up, but I just couldn’t get there in time. Maybe if the race was another 40 laps I may have gotten there.”