Team Penske Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 Race Preview
April 9, 2014
THE RACE
VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway (1.366 -mile speedway, Darlington, SC)
Friday, April 11, 8:00 pm ET
THE CAR
The No. 22 Snap-on Ford Mustang
Driven by Joey Logano
THE NEWS AND NOTES
The No. 22 Snap-on Ford Mustang
· A PREVIOUS WINNER: Of Joey Logano’s 21-career NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) wins, one of them came at Darlington Raceway. In 2012, when Logano won nine NNS races, Logano took the lead late from Elliott Sadler to take the victory. He led only four laps in the event en route to the victory.
· TOP-10 NUMBER 100: With a top-10 finish in Darlington, Logano would collect his 100th-career NNS top-10 finish. That number is made even more impressive by the fact that when he takes the green flag at Darlington, Logano will have made just 127 NNS starts dating back to his first in 2008. That’s an impressive 79-percent rate of top-10 finishes.
· NOT MANY STARTS THERE: Despite racing in 126 NNS races over the years, and running part-time since 2008, Logano has only made three starts at Darlington in the Nationwide Series. Other than his win, he’s finished 12th (2009) and fourth (2013) in his other races at the track.
· MAKING UP GROUND: Despite the fact that the No. 22 Snap-on team has yet to finish outside of the top-10 this season on the track, they trail the No. 54 of Joey Gibbs Racing by 14 points in the race for the Owners’ Championship.
· WELCOME BACK SNAP-ON: Snap-on Tools will be the primary sponsor for the No. 22 at Darlington. Snap-on Tools is a leading global innovator, manufacturer and marketer of tools, equipment, diagnostics, repair information and systems solutions for professional users performing critical tasks. Snap-on Tools is one of the largest non-food franchise companies in the world, selling its products and services through franchisee, company-direct, distributor and Internet channels.
THE Q & A
JOEY LOGANO, NO. 22 SNAP-ON TOOLS FORD
DOES RUNNING THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE AT DARLINGTON HELP YOU WITH YOUR CUP RACE?
“I wouldn’t say it helps because the cars are so different, but Darlington is one of those tracks like the road courses that you like to get extra laps on because you are right on the edge most of the time. So you can practice your line and know where to push it, see how the tires react and just get yourself mentally prepared, that will carry over onto the Cup side. It makes for a busy weekend, which makes for more opportunities to screw up, but the more time you can be on the track, the better it’s going to be for you.”
WHAT IS THE MYSTIQUE ABOUT DARLINGTON?
“It’s the Lady in Black. It’s just so cool, because it is old school. It feels like you are racing back in the 1960s when you come here. It is just a different type of racing. You are on the edge every lap. You are running right against the wall. You are just trying to push it without going over the edge and putting the car in the wall. And that is a lot of fun as a driver, although that also means you are on the edge. You have a lot more opportunities to make a mistake. Plus, it’s just unlike any other place we run. You can’t beat that.”