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THE RACE

Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway (.75 - mile oval, Richmond, VA)
Saturday, April 26, 2014

THE RESULTS
 
The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driver: Joey Logano
Starting Position: 17
Finish Position: 1
Driver's Points Position: 6
 

THE RACE REVIEW

· Joey Logano started 17th for Saturday evening’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway.  Qualifying was rained out on Friday and the starting lineup was set by practice speeds.

· As soon as the green flag waved, Logano began a methodical charge to the front of the field.  He was 15th after 10 laps and broke into the top 10 by lap 28.

· When a NASCAR-mandated competition caution flag waved, Logano was battling a condition that had the Shell-Pennzoil Ford handling tight in the center of the corners. The issue continued to plague the team throughout the evening.

· By lap 87, Logano had worked his way into the top five and he continued to run at the front for the remainder of the race.

· It was evident that the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion was very fast on short runs.  For 25 laps, Logano was among the strongest in the field, but the same tight-center condition would hamper him as he would fall back on longer runs.

· Despite the handling issues, Logano was able to race his way to the lead on lap 243 but then fell back to third place.

· For the rest of the race, Logano would race to the lead early in a stint but then drop back as the green-flag runs panned out.

· With less than 30 laps remaining, Logano found himself running sixth entering the final pit stop of the night.  The Shell-Pennzoil crew got him out of the pits in fourth place for the final sprint to the checkered flag.

· Another restart with just nine laps to go saw Logano lose ground to the top-three runners.  However, as the leaders began to battle, Logano raced his way into the mix and made a daring move to pass all three front runners with just three laps to go.

· After taking the top spot, Logano raced to the victory, his second of the season and his second in the last three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events.

· The victory all but locked Logano into the post-season Chase for the Sprint Cup.

· Logano led the race four times for 46 laps on the evening.

· It was Logano’s fifth-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and his third with Team Penske.

· The win moved Logano up two positions in the Sprint Cup Series point standings.  He is now ranked sixth, 49 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.
 

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

JOEY LOGANO, NO. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL/HERTZ FORD

TAKE US THROUGH THOSE LAST FEW LAPS.

“I had a terrible restart once, then had a good one, but the 88 (car) in front of me didn’t have the best and we fell back behind the top-three guys.  Once we started racing, I thought I had a shot still. The 20 (car) started blocking the top because the 2 car was so fast up top for the first 10 laps of a run and eventually I had enough room to turn up underneath him and get enough clean air on the car to take off. This isn’t a very good race track for me in the past but we had a really good Shell-Pennzoil Ford today and we were able to put it in Victory Lane. This is so cool to win two races already this season.  It is just going to be one heck of a season and I can’t wait to get to the race track next week.”  

HOW STRONG WAS THE SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD ON SHORT RUNS?

“Our car was really, really good the first 20 laps of a run. The 2 car was the same way. We were some short run cars and eventually it would just go away. The front and the rear would go away and the Hendrick cars would start coming. The 55 was good and the 31 was good and the 20 came out of nowhere. We were definitely a short run car and the race came down to a short run and it paid off for us.”  

WITH TWO WINS, YOU WILL BE IN THE CHASE, HOW DOES THAT FEEL?

“It feels great. I want to start winning some races in the Chase now. These cars right now are so good and Penske is doing such a great job with these cars right now. I am just the lucky guy that gets to drive these things.”