Logano Finishes in the Top-10 at Phoenix
November 11, 2013
THE RACE
AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (one-mile oval, Avondale, Ariz.)
Sunday, November 10, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven By: Joey Logano
Starting Position: 3
Finish Position: 9
Status: Running
Driver's Points Position: 9
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the third position for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
· On the first lap, Logano made a three-wide pass for the lead heading into turn three. Unfortunately, the car got loose on the inside of the turn and Logano slid back to the fifth position, where he ran for the first portion of the event.
· In the first 60 laps, Logano never ran outside of the top five and he relayed handling info to crew chief Todd Gordon, who figured out adjustments to make to the Shell-Pennzoil Ford in order to remedy a loose-handling condition.
· Pit strategy turned out to be key at Phoenix, with minimal tire wear all day long. Teams took turns taking two tires – sometimes on the right side and sometimes on the left side – or even taking four tires during their pit stops. Logano struck to his early strategy but lost some track position as a result.
· In “dirty air,” Logano’s No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion was tough to handle and he fell back as far as 24th place. The team continued to make stops to improve the handling of the car.
· Running an alternate pit strategy to the race leaders, Logano and Gordon took a gamble and stayed out on the track during a couple of rounds of stops and it paid off. The Shell-Pennzoil Ford was the fastest car on track in the clean air and Logano took the lead for the first time on lap 192. Logano led a total of 33 laps on the afternoon.
· Logano had to make a green-flag stop on lap 228, which dropped him a lap down to the leaders and into the 31st position. Logano then began to stretch his fuel but still managed to race his way back into the top 12.
· After a final caution, Logano came in for fresh right side tires and a splash of fuel to get him to the finish. With the fresh tires, Logano was able to drive from 14th to ninth place as the checkered flags flew.
· With the finish, Logano remains ninth in the Sprint Cup Series point standings heading into next weekend’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOEY LOGANO
PIT STRATEGY WAS A KEY FACTOR IN TODAY’S RACE. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO PRODUCE A TOP-10 FINISH?
"The pit strategy out there tonight was crazy. At times, you were leading and at times you were 24th. You really didn’t know where you were and where you were compared to other teams and other pit strategies. We just got off there about lap 60 or lap 70 and the car got really off in traffic. I just couldn’t drive it. So we made several pit stops to try and fix it, and that put us on a different strategy than everyone else. We eventually cycled through to the lead, which was good. We were fast out front. With clean air, our Shell-Pennzoil Ford was fast. But we just couldn’t keep that track position. We had to pit for fuel under green and then conserve because we weren’t going to make it if it stayed green. All-in-all, we had a top-five car that finished ninth. It’s not the result we want, but we fought back for sure today. We will go out and try and win the race in Homestead. That’s all we can do at this point.”
AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (one-mile oval, Avondale, Ariz.)
Sunday, November 10, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven By: Joey Logano
Starting Position: 3
Finish Position: 9
Status: Running
Driver's Points Position: 9
THE RACE REVIEW
· Joey Logano qualified the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the third position for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
· On the first lap, Logano made a three-wide pass for the lead heading into turn three. Unfortunately, the car got loose on the inside of the turn and Logano slid back to the fifth position, where he ran for the first portion of the event.
· In the first 60 laps, Logano never ran outside of the top five and he relayed handling info to crew chief Todd Gordon, who figured out adjustments to make to the Shell-Pennzoil Ford in order to remedy a loose-handling condition.
· Pit strategy turned out to be key at Phoenix, with minimal tire wear all day long. Teams took turns taking two tires – sometimes on the right side and sometimes on the left side – or even taking four tires during their pit stops. Logano struck to his early strategy but lost some track position as a result.
· In “dirty air,” Logano’s No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion was tough to handle and he fell back as far as 24th place. The team continued to make stops to improve the handling of the car.
· Running an alternate pit strategy to the race leaders, Logano and Gordon took a gamble and stayed out on the track during a couple of rounds of stops and it paid off. The Shell-Pennzoil Ford was the fastest car on track in the clean air and Logano took the lead for the first time on lap 192. Logano led a total of 33 laps on the afternoon.
· Logano had to make a green-flag stop on lap 228, which dropped him a lap down to the leaders and into the 31st position. Logano then began to stretch his fuel but still managed to race his way back into the top 12.
· After a final caution, Logano came in for fresh right side tires and a splash of fuel to get him to the finish. With the fresh tires, Logano was able to drive from 14th to ninth place as the checkered flags flew.
· With the finish, Logano remains ninth in the Sprint Cup Series point standings heading into next weekend’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOEY LOGANO
PIT STRATEGY WAS A KEY FACTOR IN TODAY’S RACE. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO PRODUCE A TOP-10 FINISH?
"The pit strategy out there tonight was crazy. At times, you were leading and at times you were 24th. You really didn’t know where you were and where you were compared to other teams and other pit strategies. We just got off there about lap 60 or lap 70 and the car got really off in traffic. I just couldn’t drive it. So we made several pit stops to try and fix it, and that put us on a different strategy than everyone else. We eventually cycled through to the lead, which was good. We were fast out front. With clean air, our Shell-Pennzoil Ford was fast. But we just couldn’t keep that track position. We had to pit for fuel under green and then conserve because we weren’t going to make it if it stayed green. All-in-all, we had a top-five car that finished ninth. It’s not the result we want, but we fought back for sure today. We will go out and try and win the race in Homestead. That’s all we can do at this point.”