News

THE RACE

Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (2.52-mile road course, Sonoma, Calif.)
Sunday, June 22, 2014

THE RESULTS

The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driver:  Joey Logano
Starting Position: 10
Finish Position: 16
Driver's Points Position: 7

THE RACE REVIEW

·  Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion team qualified 10th for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.  Logano actually turned in the fastest lap in the first round of qualifying, but wound up 10th in the second session.

·  With a car much better than his qualifying result showed, Logano made a charge toward the front of the field as the race began, fighting his way up to sixth place in the first 10 laps of the 110-lap event.  He did this despite suffering heavy damage to the nose of his Shell-Pennzoil Ford due to contact on the very first lap.

·  As the first run went on, Logano began to experience a handling condition that would plague him all afternoon long – his Ford Fusion lost rear grip and the front had a hard time turning in the corners.  The condition caused him to fall back to 18th in the running order.

· Crew chief Todd Gordon and the Shell-Pennzoil team made air pressure and wedge adjustments and Logano ran anywhere between the 15th and 20th positions, again battling the same ill-handling condition.

·  After green-flag pit stops began, Logano stayed out on track during a caution period as he was on a different strategy and he found himself in the lead on lap 74.

·  The lead was short lived as Logano continued to battle an ill-handling car while others with fresher tires raced their way back to the front.

· The No. 22 Ford suffered more damage on lap 81 when a car spun in front of him in Turn 11. Logano had nowhere to go and clipped the car, causing damage to the left front fender which resulted in another pit stop for repairs.

·  Logano restarted the race in 27th place and he was able to work his way up to 16th as the race came to a conclusion.

·  With the finish, Logano remained seventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, now 97 points behind the leader.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

JOEY LOGANO, NO. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD

YOU HAD YOUR SHARE OF CHALLENGES IN THE RACE. WHAT WERE YOU DEALING WITH OUT ON TRACK?

“We really struggled with the Shell-Pennzoil Ford today.  We were really fast for about five or six laps, and then the handle would just go away and we would lose all rear security and lose front turn in the car. We got it better, but it just happened during each and every run. And when that happens, you just put yourself in a box. We couldn’t make it a full fuel run on tires and that changes your strategy quite a bit. So we just had to hang on. It was frustrating for sure. We just missed it today. So did our teammate.  We have some work to do on these road courses.”