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THE RACE

Axalta 200
Phoenix International Raceway
March 14, 2015
 
No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
Driver: Joey Logano
Start:  1st 
Finish: 1st 
Owners’ Points Position: 1st
 

THE RACE RECAP

Joey Logano and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang completed a perfect day on Saturday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, winning the pole (and placing first in each of the three qualifying sessions), leading the most laps and dominating the Axalta 200 at the one-mile track.  Logano began the day by earning his 28th-career pole in qualifying.  The pole was Logano’s fourth-straight in XFINITY Series competition and moved him into a tie for third most on the all-time pole winners list.  Once the race began, Logano showed the strength of his Ford Mustang, jumping out to a commanding lead and pacing the first 50 laps before the first round of pit stops.  Logano would retake the lead on lap 62 and once again lead until pit stops, when cars taking two tires got out ahead of the Discount Tire team.  Each time he lost the lead, Logano would quickly race his way back to the front, dominating the event en route to leading 176 of the 200 laps.  Logano took the lead for the final time on lap 136 and led to the finish, picking up his 22nd-career NXS victory and his first since Dover in 2013.  It was the ninth time in Logano’s career that he took the victory after starting from the pole.  With the win, the No. 22 Discount Tire team took over sole control of the XFINITY Series Owners’ point standings, six points ahead of the No. 33 from Richard Childress Racing.
 

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

“We have been so close here the last four races or so in the XFINITY Series and had a lot of second place finishes.  So it’s great to get Discount Tire in victory lane in their home area. I have been driving this car for a few years but haven’t got Discount Tire in victory lane with me driving, so that is a big deal to me.   As for the race, we were strong for sure.  I was able to take off faster on restarts and get a nice lead.  Matt (Kenseth’s) car was looser than mine, so once we started running a few laps I would get tight and he would start catching up to me because his balance was a little more free. I kept hoping for lap traffic because I was better in traffic and that is where I made up time.  Greg Erwin and all these guys did a great job for me today.  I’m really happy to get Greg his first win with the No. 22 team and our first win with XFINITY.  I’m just really glad to break that second-place streak I had going.”