Logano Races to a Top-15 Result at Martinsville
October 28, 2013
THE RACE
Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile oval, Ridgeway, Va.)
Sunday, October 27, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven By: Joey LoganoT
Starting Position: 6
Finish Position: 14
Status: Running
Driver's Points Position: 11
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the sixth position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
· Logano knew starting in the outside lane was going to be tricky, but he was able to get to the preferred bottom line and make up a couple of positions early, settling into fourth place in the running order.
· Logano reported that his Ford Fusion needed more turn in the center of the corners, but the car was still performing adequately. Following the first three pits stops of the day, Logano was still comfortably running inside the top 10.
· By lap 213, Logano once again had made his way up to fourth. However, crew chief Todd Gordon elected to keep the Shell Pennzoil car out on the track and a long green flag run followed. Running on older tires, Logano was in a bad spot and fell as far back as 23rd.
· Following his stop at lap 300, Logano began a furious charge back to the front. He moved from 23rd to 13th in just 20 laps. After another 20 laps, he was back running in the seventh position. However, at that point Logano was off sequence with some of the other competitors and another pit stop dropped him back to 24th place.
· With 100 laps to go, Logano had raced his way back up to the 13th position and he was back on the same pit cycle as the race leaders. With a couple of adjustments, Logano was able to make his way towards the top 10, but the 23-year-old saw his tires wear down late and he slipped back a couple of spots, crossing the finish line in the 14th position.
· With the result, Logano climbed one spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series point standings to 11th overall.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOEY LOGANO
IT WAS KIND OF AN UP AND DOWN DAY. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE AND THE FINISH?
"That was not the type of finish that we envisioned coming out of practice on Friday and Saturday. I felt like we had a car that was capable of winning or at least running up in the top five. We were looking good early. We got off a bit on our adjustments but we went back on them and the car was pretty good. Then about halfway through the race we got off sequence with our pit stops and that really hurt us. We got stuck out on the track with older tires and never got the yellow flag that we thought would come. So we fell back and lost all of our track position and spent the rest of the day trying to get it back. That hard to do here. Now, we just need to look at these last three races as going after three wins. We have nothing to lose out there and that's how we are going to approach it."
Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile oval, Ridgeway, Va.)
Sunday, October 27, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven By: Joey LoganoT
Starting Position: 6
Finish Position: 14
Status: Running
Driver's Points Position: 11
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the sixth position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
· Logano knew starting in the outside lane was going to be tricky, but he was able to get to the preferred bottom line and make up a couple of positions early, settling into fourth place in the running order.
· Logano reported that his Ford Fusion needed more turn in the center of the corners, but the car was still performing adequately. Following the first three pits stops of the day, Logano was still comfortably running inside the top 10.
· By lap 213, Logano once again had made his way up to fourth. However, crew chief Todd Gordon elected to keep the Shell Pennzoil car out on the track and a long green flag run followed. Running on older tires, Logano was in a bad spot and fell as far back as 23rd.
· Following his stop at lap 300, Logano began a furious charge back to the front. He moved from 23rd to 13th in just 20 laps. After another 20 laps, he was back running in the seventh position. However, at that point Logano was off sequence with some of the other competitors and another pit stop dropped him back to 24th place.
· With 100 laps to go, Logano had raced his way back up to the 13th position and he was back on the same pit cycle as the race leaders. With a couple of adjustments, Logano was able to make his way towards the top 10, but the 23-year-old saw his tires wear down late and he slipped back a couple of spots, crossing the finish line in the 14th position.
· With the result, Logano climbed one spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series point standings to 11th overall.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOEY LOGANO
IT WAS KIND OF AN UP AND DOWN DAY. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE AND THE FINISH?
"That was not the type of finish that we envisioned coming out of practice on Friday and Saturday. I felt like we had a car that was capable of winning or at least running up in the top five. We were looking good early. We got off a bit on our adjustments but we went back on them and the car was pretty good. Then about halfway through the race we got off sequence with our pit stops and that really hurt us. We got stuck out on the track with older tires and never got the yellow flag that we thought would come. So we fell back and lost all of our track position and spent the rest of the day trying to get it back. That hard to do here. Now, we just need to look at these last three races as going after three wins. We have nothing to lose out there and that's how we are going to approach it."