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NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Report

Track:  Talladega Superspeedway

Race:   Winn Dixie 300

Date:   May 2, 2015

No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Joey Logano

Start:  16th

Finish: 1st (24th-career NASCAR XFINITY Series win)

Status: Running

Laps Completed:  113/113

Laps Led:   40

Owners’ Points Position:  1^st (+62)

Recap:  Joey Logano and the No. 22 Discount Tire team picked up their third win in four starts in 2015, winning the Winn Dixie 300 in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.  Logano started the event from the 16^th position, but quickly moved his Ford Mustang to the front of the field.  Logano improved 10 positions after just one lap and made it to second by lap 11.  After riding in second as a single-file line formed, Logano made it to the lead on lap 36 as the first round of green-flag stops began.  Logano fell to third following the pit stop exchange, but quickly found his way back to the lead by lap 48.  Disaster nearly struck during the second round of green-flag stops, when Logano led the field down pit road.  However, behind him, cars began to crash all around the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford.  Logano escaped any damage, but lost his track position and eventually restarted the race in the 11^th position.  Again, it took Logano little time to race his way to the front.  With expert guiding from his spotter Tab Boyd, Logano made all the right moves and eventually got himself back to the lead on lap 96.  Logano would jockey for the lead back and for the rest of the day, eventually finding himself in a four car race for the win with just a few laps to go.  Logano made all the right moves and, after a push from Elliott Sadler, was able to take the checkered flag.  The win was Logano’s third of the season in just four starts.  The win also propelled the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford to a 62-point lead in the Xfinity Series Owners’ point standings.

Quote:  “There’s never a Talladega win that comes easy or not intense at the end of the race.  You never know you’ve got it until the end, just like every other superspeedway race that we have.  We got up to the lead towards the middle part of the race and as soon as we started making our green flag stop they were wrecking all over the place.  When that happened we lost all of our track position back to 12th or so, and then the next restart we were in the wrong lane and went backwards to 15th and then we got in the right lane and started moving forward and being able to get ourselves some track position back throughout those restarts.  Towards the end it was having the right people behind you, making the right moves, making the right blocks and trying to get yourself that clean air in the front, and then really it’s just all in the mirror.  I kept looking in the mirror trying to figure it out.  It’s cool to get our third win of the season right now.  This is a pretty special season so far.  I’ve had some really fast race cars and everyone is doing an awesome job.  Tab Boyd, my spotter, once again on the superspeedways did an awesome job today giving me the information I needed to make decisions out there.”