Missy Strothers 2016

Missy Strothers, Official Fan Reporter
@missystrothers

#22 Joey Logano

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No NASCAR – What’s a NASCARFemale to do?
December 13, 2016

Well, it is that time of year. No, not the holidays. No NASCAR!

How does a NASCARFemale fill her time when there are no practice laps or qualifying laps to listen to or follow? No Truck, Xfinity, or Cup races to watch? No Race Hub or NASCAR on NBCSN? Below, I’ll give some suggestions of how I get through the dry spell until Daytona in February.

Follow your driver(s) on Facebook and Twitter. Many post updates and photos often (some way more often than others!) Also follow owners, spotters, teams, etc. Besides getting great information, many do giveaways and you may just be lucky enough to win some swag.
Look for a Facebook group for your driver(s) or team(s). Many of these are private and you’ll need to be approved to join, but once you do, it is a great way to talk to others that love your driver.
Follow your driver’s charity. Almost every driver has their own charity, and particularly at this time of year it’s a great way to give back. NASCAR also has a charity, so if you don’t find an individual one, that is also a great way to give.
Read about NASCAR. Lots of books on the history of the sport, too many to name here. Many drivers and crew chiefs have written their own books. Or if you are more of a fiction reader, there are quite a few books out there that have NASCAR as a theme. Two of my favorites are written by Sharon McCrumb – “St. Dale” and “Faster Pastor”.
Get your significant other a PlayStation or Xbox. I bought my husband an Xbox Forza for Christmas last year. I also got him the steering wheel and pedal controls. And as soon as NASCAR Heat Evolution came out, we downloaded it. Joey doesn’t do so well when I’m driving, but it is still fun.
Plan your races for 2017. Many tracks have pre-season specials for tickets, camping, pit passes, etc. Now that I’m retired, one of our plans is to take the camper to some tracks we haven’t been to. We’re looking at how we can do several in a row.
Everyone needs to update their wardrobe and memorabilia, so look for deals on NASCAR.com, Fanatics, or your driver’s site. One place to look for 1:64 cars is Walmart. I found the #2 Alliance theme of Keselowski with a small hood there. If you are looking for something in particular, eBay and Etsy are also great places to search.
And in spite of what Denny Hamlin says, do a countdown to Daytona. It’s fun to do with NASCARs of that date (everyone was showing Martin Truex Jr for 78 days to go).

February and Daytona will be here before we know it. But until then, hopefully I’ve given you some fun things to keep busy with.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image Courtesy: Joey Logano Instagram

#22 Joey Logano 2016 Year in Review
November 22, 2016

#22 Shell / Pennzoil Ford
Driver: Joey Logano
Owner: Roger Penske

Crew Chief: Todd Gordon
Car Chief:   Raymond Fox
Gas Man: Kellen Mills
Jackman: Ray Gallahan
Front Tire Carrier: Dylan Dowell
Front Tire Changer: Thomas Hatcher
Rear Tire Carrier: Josh Chaney
Rear Tire Changer: Zach Price
Spotter: Tab Boyd

Starts: 36
Wins: 3
Poles: 3
Top 5: 16
Top 10: 26
Laps Lead: 703

Date: 2/16/2016
Race: Sprint Unlimited
Start: P25
Finish: P2
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 2/18/2016
Race: Can-Am Duel 1
Start: P7
Finish: P2
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 2/21/2016
Race: Daytona 500
Start: P5
Finish: P6
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 2/28/2016
Race: Atlanta
Start: P26
Finish: P12
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 3/6/2016
Race: Las Vegas
Start: P2
Finish: P2
Laps Lead: 74

Date: 3/13/2016
Race: Phoenix
Start: P9
Finish: P18
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 3/20/2016
Race: California
Start: P9
Finish: P4
Laps Lead: 3

Date: 4/3/2016
Race: Martinsville
Start: P1
Finish: P11
Laps Lead: 21

Date: 4/9/2016
Race: Texas
Start: P2
Finish: P3
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 4/17/2016
Race: Bristol
Start: P3
Finish: P10
Laps Lead: 4

Date: 4/24/2016
Race: Richmond
Start: P2
Finish: P8
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 5/1/2016
Race: Talladega
Start: P22
Finish: P25
Laps Lead: 6

Date: 5/7/2016
Race: Kansas City
Start: P14
Finish: P38
Laps Lead: 3

Date: 5/15/2016
Race: Dover
Start: P22
Finish: P22
Laps Lead: 2

Date: 5/21/2016
Race: Sprint All Star
Start: P8
Finish: P1
Laps Lead: 12

Date: 5/29/2016
Race: Charlotte
Start: P2
Finish: P9
Laps Lead: 1

Date: 6/5/2016
Race: Pocono
Start: P2
Finish: P5
Laps Lead: 17

Date: 6/12/2016
Race: Michigan
Start: P1
Finish: P1
Laps Lead: 138

Date: 6/26/2016
Race: Sonoma
Start: P7
Finish: P3
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 7/2/2016
Race: Daytona
Start: P11
Finish: P4
Laps Lead: 6

Date: 7/9/2016
Race: Kentucky
Start: P4
Finish: P39
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 7/17/2016
Race: New Hampshire
Start: P6
Finish: P3
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 7/24/2016
Race: Indianapolis
Start: P14
Finish: P7
Laps Lead: 6

Date: 7/31/2016
Race: Pocono
Start: P10
Finish: P37
Laps Lead: 38

Date: 8/7/2016
Race: Watkins Glen
Start: P7
Finish: P2
Laps Lead: 8

Date: 8/20/2016
Race: Bristol
Start: P10
Finish: P10
Laps Lead: 38

Date: 8/28/2016
Race: Michigan
Start: P1
Finish: P10
Laps Lead: 24

Date: 9/4/2016
Race: Darlington
Start: P5
Finish: P5
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 9/10/2016
Race: Richmond
Start: P12
Finish: P10
Laps Lead: 407

Round of 16

Date: 9/18/2016
Race: Chicago
Start: P9
Finish: P2
Laps Lead: 1

Date: 9/25/2016
Race: New Hampshire
Start: P15
Finish: P11
Laps Lead: 0

Date: 10/2/2016
Race: Dover
Start: P5
Finish: P6
Laps Lead: 0

Round of 12

Date: 10/8/2016
Race: Charlotte
Start: P10
Finish: P36
Laps Lead: 3

Date: 10/16/2016
Race: Kansas
Start: P6
Finish: P3
Laps Lead: 2

Date: 10/23/2016
Race: Talladega
Start: P16
Finish: P1
Laps Lead: 45

Round of 8

Date: 10/30/2016
Race: Martinsville
Start: P2
Finish: P9
Laps Lead: 21

Date: 11/6/2016
Race: Texas
Start: P2
Finish: P2
Laps Lead: 178

Date: 11/13/2016
Race: Phoenix
Start: P4
Finish: P1
Laps Lead: 324

Championship

Date: 11/20/2016
Race: Homestead
Start: P13
Finish: P4
Laps Lead: 6

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image Courtesy: NASCAR Twitter

Homestead
Close, But Still a Great Race Year
November 20, 2016

A late restart and wreck cost the Cup win, putting Logano second of the final four at the end of the race.

Almost 10 months, 36 starts, and it all came down to the race at Homestead. Joey Logano had won his way into the final four (with Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards) the week before by winning Phoenix.

Lots of media stories before the race. Jimmie Johnson running for his seventh Cup title, which would tie him for the overall lead with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Kyle Busch looking to repeat last year’s win. Carl Edwards looking for his first Cup title, particularly after he was defeated by the retiring Tony Stewart in 2011. And Joey Logano, looking to win on his second try and if winning would be the 5th youngest to do so. And, of course, the last Cup race for Tony Stewart.

Qualifying did not go well for any of the final four. Both Logano and Johnson missed making the final cut of 12 with Joey qualifying P13 and Jimmie P14 (although Jimmie had to go to the back of the race at the start for laser violations). Kyle Busch qualified P9 and Carl Edwards qualified P10. This put all four in the championship round (other than Johnson) together for the start of the race.

During the pre-race interviews, Logano was relaxed. He told the media he knew what was coming, unlike the last time he was in the final four. Joey felt the team had raced this same caliber of race last week. The car that Todd Gordon chose to bring to Homestead was a “test car” that was last on the track at Watkins Glen. Logano shared that he really hated the term “you have to lose before you win”. He stated he just wanted to win. Todd Gordon stated that the team was more comfortable than two years past, they know what to expect and have a lot more experience.

During the pre-race laps, team owner Roger Penske came over the radio and told Joey, “It’s another day at the office, bring home the best car because you are the best driver.” The four chase drivers lead off pit road, with Tony Stewart doing a single lap and all the crew members of all teams lining up to high five Tony.

Logano started P13 on the inside, and moved up to P10 by lap 9. Joey was complaining on being tight on center, but the car was freeing up as he went. At this time, the 19 of Carl Edwards was P3, the 18 of Kyle Busch was P6, Joey was P10 and the 48 of Jimmie Johnson had managed to come from the back to P13. Logano stated he was really good in 1 and 2, but really bad in 3 and 4 compared to the 78 ahead of him. He stated he needed exit more than center.

The first Caution of the day came out at lap 27 when the 21 of Ryan Blaney got too close to the wall. It seems as if Homestead is going to be giving Darlington a run for having cars with a “stripe” on the right side, there were many hitting the wall during the race. Logano was P9 off of pit road, but the 11 of Denny Hamlin went in one lap late which put Joey at P8 for the restart.

By lap 32 Logano was a P5 and passed the 18 of Busch for P4. Joey passed the 2 of Brad Keselowski for P3 on lap 35. The 4 of Kevin Harvick and the 19 of Edwards were battling for P1, but the four champions were running : 19 – P1, 22 – P4, 18 – P5, 48 – P7.

By lap 52 the four were in line from P2 through P5. At lap 62, Logano complained of having no rear grip and sliding like crazy. Crew chief Todd Gordon made a strategic call (and continued it throughout the race) of pitting the 22 early at lap 68, which caused all the lead lap cars to pit at laps 69 – 71. Once the cycle was complete by lap 72, the leaders were: 19 – P2, 22 – P3, 18 – P4, 48 – P6.

At lap 80 a Caution when the 83 of Matt DiBenedetto spun. Logano pitted and his crew gave him a great time of 11.8 seconds and got out in front of the 19 of Edwards. “Hell yah, boys, that’s what I’m talking about!” was Joey’s comment. Roger came over the radio and said “Good Job!” Logano started P2 on the inside, with the 19 - P3, 18 – P4 and 48 – P6.

At the restart, Logano took P1 but was passed on lap 92 by the 19. By lap 100, Joey came over the radio and stated it was the best the car had been, but still need more exit, the car was ¾ of where he needed it. During this run, the 42 of Kyle Larson was making huge ground passing everyone and passed Joey on lap 108. At lap 118, the 18 passed the 22, and at that moment Todd called Joey in to pit. The crew did another fantastic job of a 11.4 pit stop and once things cycled through, the order for the four championship cars was 19 – P1, 22 – P4, 18 – P5, 48 – P11.

On lap 137, the 18 of Kyle Busch had a flat tire and had to pit, putting him a lap down at P21. Logano again led the way on pitting at lap 152 with a pit time of 11.7 seconds. Since Busch didn’t have to pit, by the time the cycle was through, the running order was 19 – P2, 18 – P3, 22 – P5, 48 – P13. At lap 171, Joey had just passed the 18 when the Caution came out for debris. Another fast pit stop and the restart had the four as 19 – P2, 22 – P4, 18 – P8 and 48 – P12. Todd Gordon stated “you are doing a good job, we’ll keep hammering at this thing.” He also stated, “The 19 keeps complaining of being tight at every restart”.

On the restart (Logano had great restarts most of the day) on lap 179, Joey moved ahead of the 19 to take P2. The order was then 22 – P2, 19 – P3, 18 – P4, 48 – P10. Logano led until Lap 205 when he was passed by the 19. The next lap the Caution came out when Ryan Blaney again hit the wall. The 22 pit crew once again was on their game with a 11.4 second pit stop having the 22 come off pit road ahead of the rest of the four champion contenders. For the restart, 22 – P2, 18 – P3, 19 – P5, 48 – P6. Todd let Joey know they could make it to the end from here, and that he had gotten some tape on the grill. Logano responded, “THAT’S what I like to hear!”

At the restart, the 42 of Kyle Larson who was in P1 came close to Logano and took air off his car which enabled the 18 of Kyle Busch to get past the 22. With 36 laps to go in the race, the 19 of Edwards then passed Logano. With 28 laps to go, the running order was 18 – P2, 19 – P3, 22 – P4, 48 – P6, with the 19 gaining on the 18 and passing with 25 laps to go.

With 15 laps to go, the Caution came out for the 32 of Jeffrey Earnhardt hitting the wall. All the leaders pitted, with the running order off pit road 19/22/48/18. Todd stated he knew Joey could do it.

The restart was a mess. The 19 was in front of the 22, and Logano got a run going, but Edwards (rightly so) came down to block him. Joey hit Carl, which spun the 18 into the inside wall, then across the track to the outside wall. The 2, 5, 7, 19, 22, 24, 31, 78, and 95 were all involved in the wreck, with the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. bursting into flames. Luckily no one was hurt, but it brought out the red flag.

Edwards car was destroyed, but he went over to the 22 pit crew and shook hands with Todd and told him to “go get em, that was 100% my fault”. Nothing but praise for the class Carl displayed!

While under red, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was helping assess damage to the 22. Todd stated “we’re going to race it”. Joey stated “I’m sorry that cost us, but I felt like I had to take that route”. Todd agreed. The starting order (going back to timing grids and video) was to be the 42, 4, 18, 48, 20, 11, 3, 24 and 22. The track was a mess and the track crew continued to put down coats of Spotter Tab’s favorite Speedy Dry. Tab stated, “That 4th lane is going to be gnarly, they are not going to clean it up much”.

As soon as the yellow was displayed, pit road opened and in spite of working on the damage on Logano’s car, he did not lose any spots due to another great pit time. The 22 would be starting P8 on the outside (the 24 had come onto pit road under red). On the restart, Joey moved up to P3, but the Caution came out for the 17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning. This would send the race into NASCAR overtime.

At the restart, the 48 of Jimmie Johnson took the lead and the 22 of Logano could not catch him. Jimmie Johnson won the Cup, becoming the third in history to win seven championships. Joey Logano finished P2 for the Chase.

A disappointment, but a fantastic job by all involved. I will do a separate write up of Joey’s stats for the season, as well as listing all on his pit crew.

Thank you for reading my reports throughout the year. I hope you have enjoyed them, gotten to know Joey, Tab, Todd and others better, and I look forward to writing on “our” guy next year!

Cup Win for the 22 in 2017!

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: joeylogano.com

Phoenix
November 13, 2016

Logano Wins and Makes the Final Four!

While in on points, a win guaranteed Joey a spot at the final.

Going into the race at Phoenix, Joey Logano was in the final four on points, but it was a very tight race for the final two open spots. Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards had secured their spots by wins, but Logano, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin were separated by only a few points and depending on passing, laps lead and other cars, it was anyone’s guess as to who would make the cut. The only way for Kevin Harvick or Kurt Bush to advance was a win.

Phoenix is a “short track” of 1.022 miles. The race was 312 miles / laps. The fuel window was approx. 81 laps. Tire fall off is sometimes an issue with this track.

The 22 did well in Qualifying, running P8 / P1 and starting P4. Edsel Ford was at the track to cheer Joey on. Before the race, Logano came over the radio and stated, “This is the day we look for”. Crew chief Todd Gordon said, “Do what we do” and team owner Roger Penske stated, “Have a good one guys, you’ve done a great job this year”.

The race did not get one lap completed before the Caution came out for the 42 spinning. The 22 was hit on the inside, but Todd stated, “I think you will be fine”. The restart then had Logano at P2 and Joey secured that spot by lap 5 with the 88 being driven by Alex Bowman at P1.

At lap 29, Joey complained about the tires and handling starting to go away and this would be a consistent issue for the 22 all day. Logano was great on the short run, but would start to fade on the long run. At lap 54, the 24 of Chase Elliott passed putting Joey at P3. He came over the radio and stated, “I’m getting beat on the turns. The center of the turn is killing me the most. I’ve got the track bar at -4”. At lap 69, Logano was passed by the 48 of Johnson, putting Joey at P4. He stated at lap 78 “Now I need exit as much as center”. At lap 79 Green flag pit stops started, but before Logano could pit, at lap 82 the 42 spun (and took out the commitment cone) trying to get on pit road bringing out the Caution. The 31 was also involved. There were some cars on pit road at the time, and once again this was going to be a long yellow while NASCAR figured out who was where.

Pit road opened on lap 84 with Joey entering at P3, but coming off pit road P2. “Good job, Guys”. When the green finally came out at lap 91, Logano was P2 behind the 88 of Bowman, starting on the inside. At lap 93, Joey took the lead. Spotter Tab Boyd came over the radio and stated “Im – Press – Ive”.

Once again, Logano’s car seemed to fall off the longer the run went. At lap 120 he was passed by the 48 putting him at P2, and passed by the 88 for P3. Todd came over the radio and stated, “Way to be smart”. Joey said, “Right now they are better at drive off”.

The second Caution of the race came at lap 132 for debris. Logano radioed that he felt the car was worse on exit but better in the center. The 22 pit crew was having a fantastic day and got Joey out at P1 off pit road. Logano said, “Yeah Baby! That’s right! Frickin’ awesome!” Todd told Joey he worked on front air to try and help the car hang onto it longer. The 48 of Jimmie Johnson was penalized a lap for passing the pace car coming onto pit road; the second penalty of this type called in the race. The 78 of Martin Truex Jr. received the same penalty on the previous pit stop. Todd told Logano that NASCAR again gave that warning and Joey stated, “Copy”.

The restart was on lap 140 with Joey P1 on the outside. It was a great restart for Logano. At lap 157 he was passed again by the 88 putting Joey at P2 and passed at lap 170 by the 20 of Matt Kenseth. Logano was still showing 3rd in points at this time. At lap 196 the 22 was passed by the 5 and by lap 201, Kenseth and Logano were tied on points. At lap 203 Joey was passed by team mate Brad Keselowski which put the 22 at P5. Another Caution for debris came out at lap 210. Logano came over the radio stated, “Near the end I start fighting the center – that is where they are killing me”. Todd stated, “Copy, we will make a wedge adjustment”.

The 22 came off pit road P4, and P3 in points. The green came out at lap 216 but was quickly followed by another Caution as the 3, 19 and 48 got tangled. Todd stated, “We’re staying out, save me all you can”. He reminded Joey that they had led laps, the 20, 11 or 18 had not, and that may be the tie breaker if it came to that.

At lap 229, Joey started P2 on the inside. The rest of the race, for us Logano fans, became a nail biting, edge of the seat race. At lap 245 Joey was passed by Kenseth which put the 22 at P3, but still +1 point. The 18 was also threatening to pass, but the 24 then passed the 18.

Another Caution came out with 56 laps to go when the 78 and 31 got into each other. While Joey was P3 off pit road, the 11 of Denny Hamlin stayed out and when the dust settled, Logano started P6 (11/20/5 /41/88/22) but was the second on 4 new tires. Todd warned Joey they were 2 below the cut at that point. Logano moved to P4 and with 46 laps to go, another Caution came out for debris. All top 10 cars stayed out.

On the restart at lap 270, Logano quickly went to P2, passing the 11 and putting Joey above the cut line. With 21 laps to go, Logano said “Come on Tab, I need information!” With 13 laps to go the 18 passed Joey putting him at P4. The 4 of Kevin Harvick was behind Logano at this point, and as long as Joey stayed behind the 18 and no other cars came between, he was still above the cut line.

With 2 laps to go, the 95 of Michael McDowell blew a tire and the Caution came out. This meant NASCAR Overtime to finish the race. Logano came over the radio to clarify “So, if I let one car between the 18 and me, and the 20 wins, I’m out”. Todd stated, “Correct”. (My dogs had taken to their cages by this time because of me yelling at the TV)

At the restart, the 18 nicked the 88, which pushed it forward and the 20 of Kenseth came down, hit and spun into the wall, bringing out another Caution. With the 20 out of the picture, this meant Logano needed to win or finish 1 car behind the 18 to move forward. Logano had just moved into P1 when the Caution had been thrown (some discussion went on with the 88 team over that). Todd told Logano to take the top for the restart and make it clean. This time the restart went perfectly, Logano led to the checkered for the win, AND THE 22 MOVES ON TO HOMESTEAD!

The Final Four for Homestead are the 48 of Jimmie Johnson (win), the 19 of Carl Edwards (win), the 22 of Joey Logano (win) and the 18 of Kyle Busch (points).

This was Logano’s 3rd win of the season and 17th Cup career win.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image Courtesy: Joeylogano.com

Texas 500
Need rain? Hold a NASCAR race!
November 6, 2016

Mother Nature again plays havoc with NASCAR races.

Whether it is track conditions, qualifying cancelled, rain delayed or rain shortened races, I think we can all agree that Mother Nature is the Sprint Cup “winner” this year. The race at Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend is no exception.

Coming into the race, Joey Logano was -4 on points and one position below the cut line. He needed a really good run or a win at Texas to stay in contention for the Chase. Qualifying went as planned, with Joey running P1 / P4 and finishing P2 for the race start. Pre-race ceremonies started 15 minutes ahead of scheduled time due to showers moving into the area, and just as the National Anthem finished and the flyover occurred, the rain started, and covers went on the cars on pit road. This was at 1:55pm ET.

Then came the wait. The folks at the track were treated to a football game on “Big Hoss”, but we in Cincinnati couldn’t fall back on that, it was a Bengals bye week. NBC filled in the time with interviews, including Jimmie Johnson’s crew doing the mannequin challenge. They showed part of last week’s race at Martinsville (not the 30+ yellow laps, so I still don’t understand that) and a documentary about the 2001 racing season. Twitter accounts exploded with racers, teams and owners tweeting all kinds of things. Roush Fenway was tweeting .gifs of what Air Titan was running P1. Team Penske tweeted the number of pages in all the volumes of Harry Potter and how you could probably get through them if you can speed read. I answered back “Already done, moving on to LOTR” and they tweeted back #precious.

Finally at 7:15pm ET, the command was given for “Drivers, start your engines”. However, NASCAR wanted the cars to run the track for a while to help finish the drying and get some heat in it. That turned into 23 laps. Logano came over the radio and stated “I’m surprised they haven’t gone green/ yellow” which would mean the laps would begin counting. During this delay, Joey asked crew chief Todd Gordon that if they did start under a green/yellow, when the race finally went green, would it be a restart. Todd checked and stated yes (although Todd was interrupted during this exchange by NBC). Joey stated “So, if it’s a restart, I can get him on the line?” Todd stated yes.

The green/yellow finally came out at 7:55pm ET. Joey again checked that when the green came out, it would be a restart and was told yes. At lap 6, the green flag was finally thrown and Joey immediately went past Austin Dillon for the lead.

By lap 11, Logano stated he was getting tight as the track rubbered up. By lap 19 he was already beginning to lap cars. A competition Caution came out at lap 29 and Joey came off pit road P1 “Nice job there guys!” Todd stated he gave Joey wedge, tires, but no tape. Logano was unsure about whether to take the top or bottom on the restart, and Gordon said “whatever you think”. Joey said “I think I’m going to take the top” to which Todd replied, “That will put Brad behind you to push”.

Logano quickly lapped traffic again, and Spotter Tab came over the radio stating, “These dudes need to pick a lane!” Green flag pit stops started at lap 74 and Logano was still P1 after the cycle through.

Unfortunately, with the time change, weather delay, and having to get up at 4:45am, I couldn’t stay up past this time to watch the rest of the race. I do know that during a green flag pit stop run, Logano elected to stay out an extra lap which put him behind Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards. During a Caution, Edwards’ pit crew executed an incredible 11.3 second stop and got the #19 in P1. During the last restart, Edwards was P1 and Logano P5, but Joey quickly moved to P2.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature again decided to join in and the rain started, eventually red flagging the race. NASCAR then decided to call it, and Carl Edwards won and assured his spot at Homestead, with Joey finishing P2. This puts Logano currently in third position on the Chase standings, highest on points, but there are only 2 points separating the next 4 drivers. Phoenix will be critical to who moves forward to Homestead. At least one driver will advance on points for that final 4th spot.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image Courtesy: Joeylogano.com

Martinsville 500
I Still am Confused Over this Race
October 30, 2016

Logano finished P9, but the race itself made no sense to me.

Martinsville is an “interesting” race track for Joey Logano. He seems to always do well in qualifying, either P1 or P2. He also seems to often run up front a lot of the race. And we had to be reminded over and over again about the issues with Matt Kenseth at this race last year.

Joey did well again in Qualifying coming in at P2. Unfortunately that is on the outside which is a disadvantage at this short track. At the start of the race, Joey fell in line behind Martin Truex Jr. who ran P1 for a lot of the day. An interesting visitor was in the pit box of the #22, Simon Pagenaud, the Penske Indy Car 2016 Champion. Simon has shown interest in running a NASCAR someday.

Logano stayed at P2 until the first Caution which came out at lap 21 when Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall. Truex Jr. pitted, but Joey stayed out and was scored at P1. The restart was at lap 27 with Joey at P1. He stayed in this position until lap 46 when passed by Truex. Logano came over the radio saying he was loose in the corner and the track was beginning to rubber up. By lap 50 the lead cars were in lapped traffic and Joey said his car was loose in dirty air.

The Caution came out again at lap 61 when Ragan’s car started smoking. Logano pitted and came off pit road P4. He said he was ok until he got into the lap traffic. He said his car took about 20 laps to “come” to him. After the restart he moved back to P7, then P10 by lap 75. Crew Chief Todd Gordon warned Joey to be disciplined.

Logano moved up through traffic over the 20 laps or so and was up to P6 by lap 101. Joey said he was running pretty good, he just needed better control on starts. The Caution came out at lap 132 for debris on the track. Logano pitted and came off pit road P5, but restarted P4 due to Harvick having to go to the rear for speeding on pit road. A long green flag run took place until lap 200 when a banner came off the side wall. Logano was P3 at the time, and came off pit road P4. On the restart, Logano couldn’t get back in line until Lap 213 when Brad Keselowski left a spot and Joey settled in at P9. Joey moved back and forth between P7 – P8 until green flag pitting took place at lap 355. Joey pitted at that lap. Unfortunately right in the middle of this, the 19 of Carl Edwards had a tire go down, bringing out the Caution.

This caused a huge amount of confusion on track for place, and even after the restart, I am still not certain what took place. Several cars seemed to pit before pit road was open and should have been penalized. The cars on pit road at the time of the Caution needed to see where they were in relation to the lead car (the 47 of Allmendinger). By lap 365, pit road was opened, but Joey stayed out. Logano kept coming over the radio staying “This is so confusing”.

Eventually the race restarted on lap 394 and Logano was scored at P9. But there were at least 20 cars between him and the other lead lap cars, and he started on the outside, not the inside. There were 10 cars on the lead lap, with Allmendinger the last, at P10. Joey continued to pass cars, and continued to be scored P9. He was at least 10 seconds behind the leader during the rest of the race and near the end of the race, came over the radio and said “I can’t catch those guys”.

The race ended with Logano at P9, which currently places him -4 in points and one out of the four spots to move forward to Homestead. Jimmie Johnson won the race, so his place is ensured at Homestead. The 11, 20 and 18 also finished above the cut line in points, while the 4, 41 and 19 finished behind Logano.

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Image courtesy: joeylogano.com

Joey Wins Talladega!
Hellman's 500
October 23, 2016

A win guaranteed Logano moving to the round of 8.

After the bad week at Charlotte, Joey Logano needed a very good finish, or win at Talladega, to advance to the round of 8. He was right on the cut line going into the race, tied with Austin Dillon. Joey had won this race last year, so hopes were high he would be able to do it again.

Qualifying did not go well for the #22. He didn’t make it out of the first round and started P16. During a pre-race interview, Logano stated he doesn’t believe in “luck”, he needs to look within, have a great car, and all the crew needs to execute.

At the start of the race, Joey moved up a few spots due to Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards dropping to the end of the pack and riding the entire race in the back. All three had already progressed to the next round by points, so unless there was something catastrophic, running in the back was the safest bet to move on.

The race started with cars going three wide right away. Depending on what row Logano was in, and what cars were with him, he managed to progress all the way up to P3 and drop all the way down to P15. This is typical of restrictor plate racing at Talladega – lose the draft and the car just cannot move forward.

Green flag pit stops started at lap 37 with Logano coming in at lap 38. A little excitement then happened as the jack did not release from the #22 when Joey left pit road and he managed to do an entire lap around the track with it hooked on the skirt of the car. Logano came down pit road to serve his penalty for removing equipment from the pit box – and to have the jack removed, which put him towards the back of the pack. He was at P22 when at lap 41 Martin Truex Jr. blew an engine, basically ruining the #78's chances of moving forward to the next round.

Once again, cars were 3 wide and Logano bounced up and down the line until he was at P15 at lap 67 when the whole field decided to stay in single file for a while. At lap 77, the pack broke into 3 wide again and Logano moved up to P6, only to be dumped down again to P15 when he lost the draft. Joey had moved up to P5 by lap 114 when the Caution came out for the 16, 83 and 13 running into each other. He came off pit road P5 with him complimenting his pit crew “There We Go!”

At the restart at lap 120, the 22, 21 and 2 were together. By lap 142, the 2 of Brad Keselowski was in trouble on temperatures due to debris on the grill. He swapped positions with the 21 of Blaney, but it was too late, the engine of the 2 blew on lap 144, ending Brad’s hopes to move forward in the Chase.

Logano also got debris on his grill during the Caution, but was able to draft the pace car and remove it. Joey started P1 on the outside, but another Caution quickly came out for debris (a quarter panel) on the track. He came over the radio and stated he “Didn’t want to wave my hand to let Blaney know I’m going, everyone else will know too. I’ll just lay back and go when Ryan does”.

Spotter Tab had been telling Joey the updates behind him as cars progressed. After this restart, he told Joey to just drive, “They seem content, I’ll let you know when they get antsy”.

A Caution came out on lap 181 when the 5 spun into the 1 and 6. Logano again had debris on his grill and used the pace car to draft and remove it. Todd wanted Joey to stay out, and Logano stated “So we have the 4, 88 and 44?” Tab said “Correct”. Joey came out with his trademark “Huh!” He didn’t know who he should restart in front of and deferred to Crew Chief Todd Gordon for advice. Todd said to take the top with the 44 behind.

At lap 186 the race restarted and quickly another Caution came out as the 88 slid into the infield. This would make the race go into NASCAR overtime. During the clean up of the caution, Todd was interviewed by NBCSN and he stated “We don’t have to win, but we want to.” The interviewer asked Todd what position they would take for the restart and he said “Ah, yeah.”

Logano switched it up and started on the inside with the 4 behind. He was able to hold off others and WON THE RACE!

Joey stated “I Love Winning Here!!!”

This put Logano moving forward to the round of 8, with the 48 of Jimmie Johnson, 4 of Kevin Harvick, 18 of Kyle Busch, 20 of Matt Kenseth, 41 of Kurt Busch, 11 of Denny Hamlin, and the 19 of Carl Edwards.

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Kansas 400
P3 Finish keeps Logano Alive in the Chase
October 16, 2016

After a 38th at Charlotte, Joey needed a strong finish to have a chance at staying in the Chase.

Your #22 reporter did not have a chance to watch or report on the Charlotte race the week before. We weren’t too far away from it, we were in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but we were in the remnants of Hurricane Matthew and had no electricity at the house we were staying at until late Monday night. I did know that Joey had led some laps but had a flat, hit the wall, and came out with 98 laps left in the race and finished 38.

Kansas was a good track for Logano in the Chase last year, it was win two of his three win streak. Qualifying went well, P3 in round 1, P4 in round 2 and P6 in round 3.

As soon as the race began, Logano decided to start running the high lane, while most were running the bottom. He settled at P8, but had worked his way up to P4 by lap 26 in spite of having debris on his grill and his temps over on oil. A Caution came out at lap 26 for debris on the track, and Joey stated 10 over was the hottest he had gotten. He pitted and was P4 off pit road, running high again, when another Caution came out at lap 36 for the 43, 44 and 23 into each other. Logano restarted P6 and moved to P5 when another Caution came out at lap 45 for the 1 having a tire down and into the wall.

Logano restarted P5 but had debris on the grill again. At lap 60 he traded places with the 48, then the 14, to draft and remove the debris, and was at P8 by lap 67, still over in temps but coming down. On lap 73, Logano passed the 14 for P7. Spotter Tab said “Give him a wave, he helped us with that paper!”

Logano came over the radio and stated the car was “Weird. Gets free then gets tight”. Cars started green flag pitting at lap 86, Joey stayed out two laps to lead and get points, pitting on lap 88. He was P7 after the pit cycle, then moved to P6 when a Caution came out at lap 116 for the 30 into the wall.

Laps 121 through 144 saw the #22 bounce between P4 and P5. Logano stated the car was getting better as the run went on. Green flag pit stops started at lap 172, with Joey pitting on lap 174 and at P3. The Caution came out at lap 177 when the 42 hit the wall. During the caution, Roger Penske came over the radio and told Logano he was doing a great job so far. The race restarted at lap 182 with Logano in P3, but a Caution came out at lap 190 when the 2 of Brad Keselowski slammed the wall. Joey stayed out, but Tab warned him of oil patches below the line at the start finish.

When the green came out, Logano bounced again between P4 – P5. Brad got the 2 back out on track, but the engine blew at lap 221 causing another Caution as there was fluid all down turn 3 and 4. Logano pitted and took 4 tires, where others took 2, and came off P5.

Joey had moved to P4 when another caution came out for the 88 having a tire down and hitting the wall. Todd told Logano to stay out and he restarted P4. At lap 254, Joey’s temps were going up again and he asked if there was debris on the grill, but continued and moved to P3 on lap 260, which is where he finished the race. This was good enough to tie him with Austin Dillon on points, but above the cut line for the next round. Kevin Harvick won the race to move to the next round.

After the race, Joey was interviewed and stated, “Not a must win next week, we are in now, but need to get more speed. We executed perfectly”.

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Image courtesy: teampenske.com

Dover
Nice and Steady
October 2, 2016

A good solid day moves Logano to the next round of the Chase.

The Dover “Monster Mile” race was the last race of the first round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. At the end of the race, the initial 16 in the running would be dropped down to 12. Coming into the race, Joey Logano was 6th in standings with +21 points, so as long as he ran a good, solid race and had no mistakes or mishaps, it was a pretty good bet that he would advance to round two.

Dover is a one mile track known to eat up cars, hence the trophy of “Miles the Monster”. The race is 400 laps with a pit window of around 85-90 laps. Once again, as it has seemed every week this year, Mother Nature did not cooperate and Qualifying was rained out. Starting position was based on owner’s points, putting Logano at P5 on the inside for the start. There was to be a competition caution at lap 40.

Joe Walsh gave the command to “Start Your Engines”. After the initial chatter on the radio, spotter Tab came over and asked, “Why is it so quiet?” Joey stated “Oh, it’s about to get loud for a long time!”

After the green flag was dropped, Logano settled into P6. Around lap 28, NBCSN showed the spotters on their perch (I saw you Tab!!). The first (of a very few) Cautions came out at lap 32 when the 4 of Kevin Harvick broke the track bar. Luckily for Harvick, he has won the week before so was guaranteed moving forward to the next round. All cars pitted as this would take the place of the competition caution. Logano came P4 off of pit road, with 4 tires, and air pressure in the front. The 42 of Kyle Larson had an issue with restarting on pit road, then had a penalty of too many men over the wall, pretty much ruining his chances of moving forward to the next round of the Chase.

By lap 48, Joey was at P6, complaining of being on the splitter and having less grip. Logano passed the 2 of teammate Brad Keselowski on lap 75 for P2, but stated he was using the track bar a lot. By lap 91, Joey was complaining of the car starting to shake and his exit being loose.

At lap 105, the caution came out for the 21 of Ryan Blaney into the wall. Ryan was on his second race of the day, having driven the 22 in the rescheduled Xfinity race in the morning. Logano pitted and was P5 off of pit road. By lap 112 he had passed the 20 of Matt Kenseth for P4 and was warned by crew chief Todd Gordon that the next car ahead, the 18 of Kyle Busch was really fighting his car. Logano passed him on lap 145 for P3. Joey stated this is the best the car had been so far, but it was loosening as he went. At lap 177, Logano passed the now 30 laps down 4 of Harvick, with Spotter Tab coming over the radio saying “Thanks –give him a wave, Joey”.

The next caution came out at lap 182 when the 42 had a tire go down. Joey came over the radio again saying this is the best run he had had so far, but again was getting tighter. The car came off pit road P3 – the 22 pit crew was really helping Logano keep in the top group. Joey came over the radio and stated, “You guys are nailing it!” He also stated to Todd that it takes him at least 5 laps for his car to “get going”.

On lap 194, the caution again came out, this time for the 1 of Jamie McMurray blowing up. McMurray had been complaining that the car wasn’t running right, and he was already quite a bit down, but this took his chances of being in the Chase away. Joey complained to Tab “I can’t see!” as Tab tried to get the 22 through the smoke from the 1. All the lead cars did not pit, with Logano at P5 on the restart, but settling at P7. He continued to say the car was tight, but wanted to know where the other cars were running. On lap 256, he was passed by the 3 putting him at P8. By lap 271, he was very close to being lapped by the leader, the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. On lap 277, Joey pitted and was told that everyone needed to pit one more time at least. After all the pitting cycled through, Joey was P8, then P7 after the 17 finally pitted and by lap 306 he was P6 and again on the lead lap, with the 78 winning.

Logano got frustrated with the 44, and was reminded by Todd, “Big picture, man, big picture”. Joey stated the car just couldn’t run well in dirty air – clean air and cool tire, the balance was pretty good. Logano once again went past the 4, and Tab again stated, “Thank you 4, appreciate it, see you!”

Joey was lapped by the 78 on lap 356 and immediately pitted. He came out at lap 359 2 laps down, but was one lap down by lap 365 and when the 88 pitted, Logano was back on the lead lap at P6, which is where he finished the race as the last car on the lead lap.

The cars moving on to the next round of the Chase are the 78 / 4 / 18 / 2 / 20 / 22 / 24 / 48 / 11 / 19 / 41 and 3. The 14 / 42 / 1 and 43 were eliminated. All points reset so all cars that moved on are equal in points. There are no extras carrying over from wins.

The next round should be interesting for Logano fans. One year ago, Joey won every race in this round. We are hoping for a repeat of that great performance!

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image Courtesy: www.joeylogano.com

New Hampshire 300
Need to Find Speed for the Chase
September 25, 2016

Logano manages a P11 finish in spite of being a lap down.

Race two in the Chase saw a return back to Loudon, New Hampshire Speedway. Joey has done well at this track in the past, with a win in 2014 and a P3 earlier this year, but a great finish was not to be this time.

Loudon is a 1 mile flat track. Fuel window is 84-88 laps. Qualifying on Friday was cool and overcast and Logano did not make it out of round 2, putting himself at P15 for the start. Race day was also cool, but sunny.

An interesting bit of “Joey Trivia” – before the race, Fox Sports 1 Race Hub interviewed Joey and his wife Brittany. They met at the ice rink where Joey’s sister worked (she is a professional figure skater). Joey was 16 and driving the Zamboni (of course) and Brittany was 15, a skater and worked the concession stand. Joey said “hi” and that was it according to Brittany. They were “stuck in friends mode” for a long time according to Joey – and he stated “See, guys, there is always hope”.

During the warm up laps on the race, owner Roger Penske came on and told Joey he’s done a great job this season and to keep going. Joey stated “We know what to do , the same as last week (where Joey finished P2). Crew Chief Todd Gordon came on and told Joey to keep them updated on what they can do to help.

Logano started P15 and bounced around between P13 – P15 for the start of the race. He came over the radio saying he was being beat in turns 3 and 4. By lap 53 he had dropped down to P17 and came over the radio and stated “Everything is bad. I try to fix one and it makes the other worse”. Joey continued to drop through the field and at lap 75 Todd made the call to pit (Logano was the first to do so under green). After all had pitted Logano was P16 at lap 81, but still complaining that while the exit was better, he still had nothing in the center. At lap 99, Joey was at P17 and came over and stated he lost the front about 3 laps ago.

On lap 113, Logano was lapped by race leader Kyle Busch, and was also passed by the 78 and 20. Joey and the 47 of Dinger were fighting for the “lucky dog” spot of being the first one lap down in case a caution came out. After he was passed by the 47, Logano stated he “just can’t do anything right”. On lap 124, the first Caution of the day came out when the 30 of Josh Wise spun, but Logano was not the recipient of the free pass at that time. Todd came over the radio and asked “What do you want, turn or drive?” Logano stated” I can’t turn in 3 and 4, I can’t drive in 1 and 2, I don’t know!”

When the green was thrown at lap 126, Logano was the fourth car a lap down. He came over the radio and stated “There’s a lot of blue ovals in front of us, let’s make sure we all work together”. Spotter Tab “Copy that!”.

Logano seemed to have a better set up this time and was passing cars on the lead lap when the Caution came out at lap 166 for debris. Joey stated he was more competitive this time and Todd said he was thinking the same. Joey said he would do whatever Todd suggested, and Todd stated “let’s do the wave around to get back on the lead lap. We’ve got 32 laps on our tires.

When the green flag was thrown at lap 172, Logano was back on the lead lap at P19, but was lapped by leader Matt Kenseth at lap 209 to put Joey back in the lucky dog position. Cars started green flag pitting on lap 216 and Logano pitted on lap 217, giving up the lucky dog. Once pitting was done, the 22 was the 8th one a lap down. A caution came out on lap 240 when the 46 spun. Logano stated this was the best balance he had had all day.

Logano pitted and the 4th car a lap down. He had passed the 27 and was in the lucky dog position when finally the Caution came out in Joey’s favor when the 95 spun and he got the free pass to get back on the lead lap. Roger Penske came on the radio and stated “Good job, Joey”. Logano pitted and was reminded by “The Captain” to watch his speed on pit road.

Joey bounced around P17-P19 when at lap 284 a Caution came out for the 6 into the wall. Logano stated he was getting loose off and tight center. Todd pitted Joey and did 4 tires and a splash of fuel to balance out the car, putting the 22 at P19 for the restart. Another Caution came out quickly when the 17 spun out, also causing the 55 to spin. Logano came over the radio and asked to have his right front checked, he thought he may have gotten into the 48 at the restart. Todd said it looked fine, just a tire mark.

Logano restarted P15. Before the restart, Spotter Tab came over the radio and stated “Those dudes up front are all gnarling up in the corners. Keep low and you will be good”. On lap 298, Joey claimed P11 and that is where he finished the race. The 4 of Kevin Harvick won the “Lobstah”.

Roger complimented Joey on a great job, and Todd told him “way to dig all day”. Joey then complimented the crew, stating “Way to dig back, I just wish we had had a few more laps.

The finish puts Logano in 5th position in the Chase with 2073 points, which should be enough even without a win at Dover to move to the next round of the Chase.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: teampenske.com

The First Race of the Chase
September 18, 2016

While not a win, Logano finishes P2 for a strong start in the Chase.

The Chicagoland Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 was the first race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Sixteen drivers are currently eligible for the Cup, based on wins and points during the regular season. Joey Logano is one of those, having won one race in the regular season.

Chicagoland is a 1.5 mile track, with the race being 267 laps. The pit window for fuel is about 57-60 laps. As seems to be a constant this year, Mother Nature once again did not cooperate and it rained on Friday, cancelling qualifying. Instead the Cup cars lined up on owner’s points which put Joey at P9 on the inside for the start of the race. Prior to the start of the race, the 42 and 4 went to the back of the field – the 42 for a transmission modification and the 4 for a body modification penalty.

During the pre-race laps, owner Roger Penske came over the radio stating “Good Luck and Go get them”. Joey responded with, “We know what to do!” and Crew Chief Todd Gordon stated, “Thanks for your support, sir!” Logano is running the 50 years of Penske mosaic on his car that he won the All Star Race with. (Later in the day, Penske driver Simon Pagenaud won the Indy Car Cup at Sonoma).

Joey then stated to the crew, “We’ve all been here before. We know what to do. Let’s show them what we’ve got and let’s have fun”.

Logano complained early on of the car being tight. He was adjusting the track bar and said he needed something both in and out of the turns. The first caution of the day came out at lap 49 for a loose tire on pit road from the 43 of Almirola. Some cars had already started Green Flag pit stops, Joey was still on the track. Logano stated it depended on what tire he was “on” as to whether he was tight or loose. Todd stated he would change tire pressure to help. The 22 crew had a great pit stop getting Joey up one spot and both Todd and Joey came over the radio telling the team, “Good way to kick it off”.

Logano restarted P8 and was up to P6 on lap 58 when Todd came over the radio and said there was a piece of debris on the grill. Joey was already 5 degrees over temp, and Joey told Spotter Tab to talk to the 24 of Chase Elliott and say he will let him go if he could get close enough to get the debris off. Elliott passed Logano, and Joey was able to get the debris off, but that put him at P7.

The 78 of Truex Jr. dropped down due to tire issues, and Logano was able to pass the 88 to gain P5. Joey stated that he had more grip this time and whatever the crew did, the car was definitely better. Green flag pitting started about lap 103 with Logano pitting on lap 104. After everyone cycled through he was again at P5. At lap 120 the caution came out for the 44 spinning in turn 4. Joey pitted and was P5 off pit road with another great job by the pit crew.

Logano started P5 at lap 126, but came back in about 10 laps saying the car was “lazy” getting to the bottom. He was also concerned he may have more debris as his temps were up, but that was not the case. Joey said the car really wasn’t that bad when in clean air.

Green Flag pit stops started and Joey came in on lap 173. He was P5 after the cycle through. At lap 190 Logano had an issue while trying to pass the 10 of Danica Patrick who was not on the lead lap. Joey came over the radio and exclaimed “Holy Sh!t” and Tab responded “No Joke – all clear now”.

A caution came out at lap 192 for debris. Logano stated it takes a while for the car to, “come to me”. He pitted and came off pit road P6. Logano said, “It’s all about track position now”. At lap 197 he restarted P6, behind the 24, 48, 11, 21 and 42. He passed the 42, but then was passed by the 78 on lap 211.

Green flag pit stops again started on lap 234 but Joey did not pit until lap 237. At lap 242, Logano was P8, but the 21 and 88 had not pitted yet. When they both came in, Logano was at P5 on lap 249 and running behind teammate Brad Keselowski. Joey came over the radio and told Tab to tell Brad’s spotter Joey Meyer to, “give it to him – I can get by the 11!” Logano passed the 2 on lap 13 to put him at P4.
The caution came out at lap 263 for the blown tire of the 95. All the leaders pitted and Logano came off Pit Road P3. Both Joey and Todd told the crew “Good Job!” The 21, 5 and 19 stayed out and did not pit putting Logano at P6 for the restart of NASCAR Overtime. Once the green flag was thrown, Joey quickly moved to P2 and finished at that spot, with the win going to Martin Truex Jr. Logano came over the radio and said “Good Job – that’s what we’ve got to do” with Todd following up, “Execution!”

The win automatically moves Truex Jr. to the next round, however the 78 failed post race inspection, so that may or may not change depending on what NASCAR decides for penalties. Logano is currently in fifth place on points with 2043, behind Truex (2050), Keselowski (2049), Kyle Busch (2046) , and Denny Hamlin (2045).

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Rubbin’ and Racin’ for the Chase
September 10, 2016

While Joey Logano was already locked into the Chase, those that weren’t had a heck of a race.

It was the second visit to Richmond International Speedway this year, and the final race before the Chase. While Joey was already locked in due to his win from the first Michigan race of the season, there were many others fighting to get into the magic 16 that proved for some rough and tumble racing.

This is a track that Logano has yet to win at, and Saturday unfortunately continued that streak. Qualifying was not great although he did make the final group but was at P12 for the start of the race. Richmond is a “short” track and the race is 400 laps. Fuel window is about 105 laps, but tire fall off happens long before this.

During the pre-race pace laps, team owner Roger Penske came on the radio telling Joey to, “Make it happen here”. Logano responded “Yes sir, we’ll have some fun and do it”.

Richmond raceway went all out for, “Fan Appreciation Day”. There were giveaways the entire day, and as a final salute to the fans, the typical 2 wide pre–race drive around became a 4 wide. Spotter Tab came over the radio and suggested to, “Make this really interesting and drop the green now”. Joey said “That’s a lot of cars” and Tab stated, “Kinda like rush hour in New York City”.

After the start of the race and the cars had a chance to get in line, Logano was running P15 – P17. The first caution of the night came out at lap 11 for a tire going down on the 21 of Ryan Blaney and his car into the wall, killing Blaney’s hopes of a Chase position. Joey pitted as did all the other front runners and was P16 at the restart on lap 16.

By lap 31, Spotter Tab was commenting to crew chief Todd Gordon that he could see red brakes on Logano’s car in turn 3. Richmond is notorious for overheating brakes and causing tires to fail. Logano continued to move up the field, including a patient pass on the 5 and 88 at lap 60 to get to P11. Joey was up to P8 at lap 85 when the next caution came out for the 47 of Dinger getting loose and sliding. During the yellow and pitting, Roger Penske came over the radio and told Logano that both he and the 2 of Keselowski looked strong.

Logano restarted P7 on lap 92 but the run was short lived as a caution quickly was thrown for the 24 of Elliott sliding into the wall. Joey said he took off better this time. When the green came back out, Logano stated after a few laps that he didn’t have the drive off he had in the last run, but he had moved to P6 by lap 187 when green flag pitting took place. He was at P9 when the 48 of Johnson, who was running old tires, hit the wall and a caution came out. Joey pitted and restarted P10.

Another caution came out at lap 219, this time for debris. Logano was at P9 at the time, but came off pit road P10. Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road, so Joey restarted P8 at Lap 228.

The next caution came out at lap 245 with Logano at P10 for the 23 spinning due to a tire down. This had major implications for the Chase as the 23 and 34 were battling for points. Logano pitted and restarted P13 at lap 250. On lap 263 while battling for position with the 16 there was contact between Edwards and Logano, but the damage was minimal to the 22.

A caution came out at lap 266 when the 27 spun. Logano pitted and came out P11, but restarted P10 due to the 78 of Truex getting a penalty. Joey came over the radio and asked, “How’s our tire situation (the teams had 10 sets of tires), do we have much left?” Tab stated, “Yeah!!!” Logano said, “I know what that means.” All the teams were down to their last set and some were putting “scuffs” (tires used in qualifying) back on.

Lab 279 saw Logano at P9 when a caution came out for the 13 spinning. Logano did not pit and restarted P8. Joey came over the radio and said, “I’ll take a water the next time in, it is hot in here (the track temp was at 120 for the start of the race)”. He also complained about the 18 of Kyle Busch and stated that, “If the 18 tries to run me into the wall again, I’ll give him something!”

Logano was P7 when the caution came out at lap 292 for the 46 into the wall. Joey pitted, but several stayed out and he restarted P13. This time the car was performing well and he was up to P5 when at lap 321 another caution came out for the 19 spinning. Logano pitted and came off P5, but the run was short lived as the 47 spun out with a tire down at lap 327.

Joey was at P8 when a caution came out at lap 336 for the 20 hitting the wall. Logano did not pit and Todd came over the radio stating they had one set of tires left. Joey said, “That’s crazy! I’m sure we’ll go green from here (sarcastic)”. That statement was short lived as the caution came out at lap 345 when the 47 again spun and involved the 23 and 15. Logano stayed out and restarted P7. Another Caution came out at lap 354 when the 93 hit the wall and Logano again stayed out.

Joey was running P6 when “The Big One” finally occurred. It started with the 14 of Tony Stewart battling for position with the 31 of Ryan Newman. Stewart spun Newman, and by the time it was over, the 23, 44, 83, and 19 were all involved as well. The 23 was in flames, as was the 14, and the 83 was partially on top of the 31. This also took out any chance of the 23 or 31 making the Chase. A Red Flag was thrown at lap 363 to enable the clean up.

Joey came over the radio and stated, “Who’d have thought Richmond would take longer than Darlington?” Once the yellow came out, Joey pitted while others did not and restarted at lap 367 at P17. The 22, 42, 41 and 4 were all fighting for position with 13 laps to go and Logano came out of that P8. With 4 laps to go the 55 spun, but the green stayed out. With just 2 laps to go, the 7 went into the wall and brought out a caution and NASCAR Overtime. Logano did not pit and restarted P7, but ended the race P10, while Denny Hamlin won the race.

The first race of the first round of the Chase is at Chicagoland. Logano goes into the Chase with 2003 points due to his win.

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Throwback Weekend results in P5 for Logano
September 4, 2016

Joey just can’t get short run speed in his car.

The Southern 500 has become one of the races to look forward to in the past few years since starting the “Throwback Schemes”. Cars, drivers and fans all get into the spirit. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t and “threw” a hurricane at the track, which cancelled qualifying and set starting positions on owners points.

The race is 367 laps with a fuel window of 65 laps. But the “Lady in Black” who is “Too Tough to Tame” uses up tires much quicker than that.

Logano started P5. Pre-race, the cars all drove single file around the track so that the fans could see the paint schemes of each car. Instead of his usual yellow and red, Joey’s car was predominantly white and black of the old Shell scheme. Due to the starting time of the race, the sun was bad in turn three and would be for over an hour until it set behind the track. Logano came over the radio and stated, “This is a long race, with lots of pits stops. Let’s have a good one!” Crew chief Todd Gordon stated, “I think we have a good car.”

After the start of the race, Logano complained about the car being tight in 1, loose in the rest. He dropped down as far as P9, but was up to P6 when green flag pit stops started at lap 46. His second run was more consistent and was P5 when the green flag pitted again at lap 93. Luckily he was back out on the track when a caution came out at lap 96 for when the 6 spun getting on pit road.

Logano restarted P8 at lap 103, but quickly dropped as far down as P15 and was at P13 when the caution came out at lap 114 for the 44 of Brian Scott hitting the wall. Joey pitted and was at P11 when he restarted on lap 116. Spotter Tab came over the radio and said there was a plastic bag on Logano’s hood but is was not interfering with air intake. By this time, the sun was not an issue.

By lap 135 Logano was at P7 but complaining of getting tighter as he went.    At lap 154, Joey passed the 18 of Kyle Busch for P6 and passed the 78 of Martin Truex Jr just before pitting on lap 163. After pitting, Logano was P4 and moved up to P2 when on lap 204 there was a caution for the 44 and 14 making contact. Logano pitted and came off pit road P2. Joey came over the radio and complimented his crew “Great work but we’ve got a long way to go, longer than the Xfinity race yesterday”.

Joey restarted P2 on lap 209 and was P3 when the caution came out at lap 214 for the 48 spinning. He was back up to P2 when the 32 of Jeffrey Earnhardt spun at lap 249 bringing out a caution. Logano came off pit road P4. His comment on the radio was, “The 18 goes from fast to slow, we go from slow to pretty quick”. Another caution came out at lap 262 when the 16 went into the wall. Logano came over the radio again saying, “This thing takes off like crap! I need longer runs!”

Joey restarted P9 due to the 20 and 41 not pitting. He moved down and back up and was again at P9 when the caution came out for the 47 of Allmendinger hitting the wall on lap 280. Logano again came over the radio complaining about the short run, but saying he loves how it, “hangs in after that”. Joey restarted P11 but moved up to P9 when a Caution came out for the 14 of Tony Stewart blowing an engine.

Logano pitted and came off pit road P5. He again complimented his crew “There we go – that’s what I’m talking about”. But again, there was just a short run when the caution came out for the 41 hitting the wall, and the 27 also losing a tire at lap 327. Logano came off pit road P4, but the 31 and 2 stayed out so restarted P6 at lap 330. Joey was up to P4 when with 18 laps to go the caution came out for a hard hit by the 43. Logano pitted and came off pit road P5.

Logano finished the race at P5, with Martin Truex Jr. winning the race.

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Not a repeat win for Team Logano
August 28, 2016

Hopes were high for a win from Joey Logano with a return to the Irish Hills of Michigan. Joey had won the race at this track in June to punch his ticket to the Chase, and it was hoped he could repeat this.

Michigan is a 2 mile track, and once again NASCAR was having the cars run the low down force package. Both Penske cars had won with this package, Joey at Michigan in June and Brad Keselowski at Kentucky in July. The fuel window for the track is around 46 laps.

In the three rounds of qualifying, Logano ran P8/ P8 and when it counted, pulled out the stops and got the pole. Since the last three winners at Michigan had qualified P1, this also pointed to a possible repeat win for Joey.

There were to be two practices on Saturday. One was at 8:30 and Crew Chief Todd Gordon wasn’t thrilled with running the car. He didn’t think they would learn much about the race since time and temps would be so different, but if Joey didn’t win, Todd felt they would all be blaming themselves for not running. The second practice was - shock and surprise – rained out. It seems that Mother Nature just does NOT want NASCAR to have a race without some rain involved this year. Due to not having a second practice, there was to be a competition Caution at lap 20.

Joey stated at the start of the race that the key to winning Michigan was strategy and caution, with being out front a huge advantage. In a pre-race interview, he felt restarts would play a key to who won the race.

For the start, Logano chose the outside lane. By lap 10 he was complaining of being tight in the center, loose out, and the car handling seemed to be “going away” as laps went past. When the leaders got into lapped traffic around lap 14, Joey said he was getting freer and freer off. When the competition Caution came out at lap 21, Logano said his biggest complaint was once he got in traffic, everything got worse. On this pit stop, the first 16 lead drivers took 2 tires and fuel only.

When the green flag was thrown at lap 26, Joey again took the outside lane, with the #4 of Harvick on the inside. Harvick passed Logano for P1, and immediately after, the Caution came out for a spin by the 18 of Kyle Busch. The restart at lap 30 saw Logano move progressively backwards in the pack. By the time Joey did a green flag stop, he came off pit road P11. After a few laps he stated he felt the car was way more competitive and moved a few spots up to P8 when the Caution came out at lap 118. Logano felt he needed cleaner air – he stated he wasn’t good enough to get on the back bumper of someone, nor was he able to get to the bottom and turn. Without either one, passing cars was impossible.

Logano again did a green flag pit stop on lap 153, which would have been enough to see him to the end of the race. Once pit stops filtered through, Joey was up to P8 when the Caution came out at lap 186 for the 46 having a tire down. Joey pitted, but his back air gun hose was caught by the 4 of Harvick leaving pit road and the air gun went flying. After sorting out the mess, Logano was at P17. The green flag came out at lap 189, and started moving up in position. By lap 197 he was at P10 which was where he finished the race.
It was the first win for Kyle Larson. In fact the weekend was a weekend of “firsts” for NASCAR with Michael McDowell winning Xfinity and Brett Moffitt winning trucks.

The next race is Darlington. This has become a huge “throwback” celebration with the cars all driving paint schemes from the past. Joey has never won at Darlington, but he was P4 last year and P2 the year before.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Bristol 500
The 24 Hours of Bristol?
August 21, 2016

Due to rain, a short track race takes 2 days to complete.

Sorry for the absence of reporting on Joey lately. Pocono was rain delayed until the Monday following, and unfortunately I had to work, so couldn’t watch (Joey was wrecked and wound up P37).   For Watkins Glen, we were working the Dublin (Columbus, OH) Irish Festival, so again did not get to watch (Joey finished P1 in the Xfinity Race and P2 in the Cup Race, so would have loved to have been able to write up that one). I was really looking forward to watching the Bristol Night Race, which became a next day into next night race due to rain.

This is the second race of the year that the Cup drivers visit Bristol. Since the earlier race, a major addition to the track at Bristol was VHT resin (or PJ1 TrackBite as it is known in the drag racing world). This is added to aid in traction of the cars, and it was hoped the application would see additional lanes be used during the race, instead of the typical “run against the wall” that happens historically at Bristol.

Bristol is one of the shorter tracks in the series at just a half mile. Because of rain during the day, a competition Caution was going to be called at lap 60. However, Saturday night’s racing did not get that far.

Logano started P10 on the outside. One of the unique things Bristol does is let the drivers pick their own intro music. Joey chose “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson (there are lots of reasons I like this guy!).

Logano moved back and forth a bit in position and was at P9 when the Caution came out for rain at lap 31. Crew Chief Todd came over the radio and stated that he knew they were loose and that radar looked like it was going to be wet for a long time. Spotter Tab said he was getting soaked up on the spotter’s stand. The cars went a few more laps under yellow then were brought to pit road at lap 38 for a Red Flag stop. The race started again, but after 10 laps, was again red flagged and stopped until Sunday.

Sunday started off (or continued) raining. Crews were going a bit stir crazy – following Penske and Roush Fenway on Twitter they were out of food and trying to barter. The race was to start at 1:30pm, but did not get underway until 4:30. Due to the race cars sitting out all night, teams were worried about electronics, particularly radios. There would be a competition Caution at lap 85 (the counting of laps continued from Saturday – this was not a new start). Logano would restart P9.

Joey came over the radio stating he “didn’t know if the bottom is going to come in, but let me know when guys go high”. Joey was trying to run the top after the restart and was at P13 when the competition Caution came out at lap 86. Logano complained of being loose on the bottom, tight on the top, and that is seemed like his power steering wasn’t working correctly. Todd stated there was nothing they could do on the steering, but they did some adjusting and Joey came off of pit road P18.

Logano dropped down as far as P23 and was at P21 when the Caution came out at lap 158 for the 7 of Regan Smith spinning. Joey was still complaining about the power steering, saying he can feel the front end shaking and it is challenging to catch it, and he can’t overdrive the car.

At the restart at lap 165, Logano was P18. Joey has some frustrated words with Spotter Tab about not knowing when cars are passing him and being wrecked (which I’m sure will show up on Radioactive on FS1 Race Hub!). Joey was having good lap times running the bottom and at lap 255 was P13 when a Caution came out for debris from the 31 of Ryan Newman hitting the wall. Logano came over the radio and stated that the car started out tight, then freed up the longer into the run it went. Joey pitted and came off pit road P10. Todd told Logano he was really competitive at the end of the run.

The green came back out at lap 263 and Logano stated he was a lot freer this run. He was up to P6 when the 42 was hit by the 41, and Joey got a part of that on the front end. Todd stated there was a crack above the grill, but didn’t look like it was a problem. The race restarted at lap 317 with Logano at P7. He was at P5 when a Caution came out for the 18 spinning (Kyle Busch had been complaining of a broken shock) that also hit the 46, 42 and 78. Logano pitted and came off P1, with the 41 of Kurt Busch beside him for the restart at lap 370. The 41 spun out right after the start, taking the 2, 21, 20 and 27 in the process. Ironically, the 41 would have been called back to pit road for jumping the restart penalty if he hadn’t have wrecked. Logano also had some damage to the right side of his car, including the tape that is a visual marker for the jack man being rubbed off. Logano asked if they could make it on fuel from here and Todd stated they were good to go by at least 20 laps.

When the green flag came out on lap 390, Joey started P1 on the outside. By lap 404 he was passed by the 4 of Kevin Harvick. A Caution came out right after for the 15 hitting the wall. Logano stated that there seemed to be oil on the track in turn 3. However, Todd came on the radio and stated that Joey had to pit, that Martin Truex Jr has seen that he had a tire going down. Joey went back out on the track while it was still under yellow when Todd came on the radio and stated the 22 must pit now. Evidently not all lug nuts were tightened on that last stop, and had to be done so as to not get a penalty. This put Logano at P18 when the green came back out on lap 423.

At lap 432, the nemesis of this race came back, with Logano having moved up to P13. A Caution came out for rain. All were saying that the rain wasn’t showing on the radar, but eventually NASCAR brought the cars to pit road for a Red Flag at lap 445. The drivers stayed in their cars and nothing was to be done to them. Todd tried to get permission for a tear off, but was told Joey could pit if he wanted that.

The yellow came back out and the cars moved off pit road, and the green was thrown at lap 449. Joey restarted P13 on the inside. He finished the race at P10 with Kevin Harvick winning.

The next race is at Michigan. Let’s hope for some dry weather for a change!

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Brickyard 400
Hot Work for a Top 10 Finish

July 24, 2016
Strategy and restarts give Logano a P7 finish.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a track steeped in tradition and history. Since the Cup cars run the race every July, it is also one of the hottest, temperature wise, tracks that the cars experience. This year was no exception – it was the third hottest on record and in car temps were showing 114F.

The track is called “The Brickyard” because originally, the surface was all bricks. The finish line is a section of this original track, and winners “Kiss the Bricks” at the end of the race. It is one of the larger oval tracks NASCAR runs – it is so large that most teams have to use at least 2 spotters. The race would consist of 160 regulation laps, with a fuel window of 36-38 laps. For green flag pit stops the delta (the amount to be behind the leader, pit, and come out still on the lead lap) is about 11 seconds.

Joey Logano was running the same mosaic paint scheme that he won the All-Star Race in. While Roger Penske is the “king” of the Brickyard when it comes to Indy 500 wins, he has yet to have a NASCAR win at the track. Sadly, this year was not to be the one to break that streak.

Logano’s car was bad off the truck. He was P21 in the first round of qualifying and P14 in the second, which meant he did not get to advance to the third and started the race P14. Pre-race on the radio, Spotter Tab and Spotter Mike were discussing how to split up track duties. Mike would take turn four and the restarts, Tab would do the rest. Crew Chief Todd Gordon stated he could also help if needed.

There was a “different” driver in the field for the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had suffered concussion like symptoms and sat out last week, this week and will also sit out Pocono. Jeff Gordon came out of retirement to drive the 88 in Jr’s place. This was also going to be the last time “home town” favorite Tony Stewart would drive Indy in a NASCAR race before his retirement at the end of the year. To honor that, Stewart got to drive the 14 ahead of the pace car for a ceremonial lap.

On the way to the green flag Joey stated, “Stay hydrated, get track position, hold onto it, and we’ll kiss the bricks at the end – it is that simple”. Kyle Busch was in the P1 spot for the start (and most of) the race.

By lap 4, Logano had moved up to P12 when the 83 of Matt DiBenedetto lost all oil pressure bringing out the first Caution of the race. Matt later asked on Twitter if whomever has the voodoo doll of him would stop – they have had quite a few DNF this year. Todd told Joey they were staying out, nothing to gain here by coming in.

At lap 9, Joey restarted P12 on the outside. The outside lane at Indy is not the lane to be in to try and accomplish any passing, and Logano quickly dropped to P15. Logano was complaining about the car being tight in center, loose off, and was working the track bar. Spotter Tab stated that the cars around could stay on the line longer.

At lap 26, cars started coming in for green flag pit stops with the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. leading the way. Both Penske cars decided to stay out and try to get through the race with just 3 pit stops. This put Brad at P1 and Joey at P2. Logano came over the radio and stated the car was acting just like the Xfinity car the day before, tires going away at about 20 laps.

Both Joey and Brad pitted on lap 42, which put Joey at P22 when he returned to the track. But both Penske cars now had tires with 16 less laps on them than the leaders. Logano began to make steady progress, moving up the line to P17 by lap 53 when right after he passed the 16 of Greg Biffle, Biffle slammed into the wall bringing out a Caution. Todd made the call to stay out again, making Joey the only car of the top 20 to not pit and putting him at P1. Todd came over the radio and stated to Joey, “So we are official on our own strategy.” Joey answered, “I feel like we’ve done this before!”

Joey restarted at P1, but began dropping as the cars with newer tires started catching up. By the time Logano pitted on 85 he had dropped to P8. Other cars were also pitting and when the cycle was complete at lap 89, Joey was P6. He came on the radio after passing a lapper asking if he had grass on his grill, the slow car had gone down into the grass a bit. Spotter Tab stated the grill looks good. Logano complained that he was looser on this run than previously. He also wanted Spotter Tab to ask the 34 of Chris Buescher to work with him when he got close. By lap 93 Joey was running P7, there were 20 cars on the lead lap (Kyle Busch leading most of them) and Logano was getting frustrated with Buescher not helping him pass. He finally did on lap 116 (Buescher was a lap down). At lap 118 Logano came on the radio and stated the car was tightening up and he was working the track bar.

At lap 120, the Caution came out for the 23 spinning in turn 2. Todd stated to bring the car to him for a wedge adjustment and tap. There were 13 cars on the lead lap at this time. Joey came off pit road P8 with 4 tires, but not the tape Todd wanted. They were good to go on fuel to the end.

The race restarted with Joey at P8, but a Caution quickly came out at lap 130 for the slow 7 of Regan Smith. Todd told Logano they would stay out, they had discussed bringing him in for adjustments, but it would probably make them P14 or 15 and not worth it. Quickly after the restart, Joey had moved up to P6 when with 10 laps to go, there was a Caution for debris in turn 2. The 19 of Carl Edwards asked the 22 team to look at his right rear for damage, and Joey said all looked ok, no tire rub. Again, Logano stayed out, while other leaders pitted including the 4, 2, 3 and 11, putting Joey at P5.

On the restart, Joey quickly moved to P3 when a huge wreck with 7 laps to go happened. The 19, 21, 31, 2, 10 and 17 were all involved, with a lot of grass being brought up onto the track. This caused a Red Flag and halt of the race for clean up. During the Red Flag, workers brought water around to the drivers.

Roger Penske got on the radio and was talking with Joey about the race so far. Roger asked if Joey was ok with the heat and Logano stated sure, with the water coming around. Roger said he liked Joey’s attitude. The Captain also stated he was going to sit down on the photographers’ chairs and take a nap like he would on his front porch. Joey came back saying, “With so many 500 wins, this IS your front porch!”

With 2 laps to go, Joey restarted P2 and tried to beat out Kyle Busch, but a Caution quickly came out when the 6 and 15 spun out. This put the race into NASCAR overtime. Spotter Tab complained he couldn’t see the overtime line because of the trees and didn’t know where it was. He said neither did the official on the stands with them.

The race restarted and almost immediately a Caution came out when the 1 turned into the 31 (and clipped the 14 of Stewart) at the same time the 44 took a spin through the infield. Time for another try at the Green / White / Checker of NASCAR overtime. This time Joey couldn’t hang with the cars that had pitted on lap 10 and had fresher tires. He finished the race P7.

Your 22 reporter here will not be able to do a report on the race from Pocono next week. She will be at Mid-Ohio cheering on another group of Penske drivers in Indy Car racing. Maybe that will bring reverse luck to Joey and he will win Pocono!

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: joeylogano.com

New Hampshire 301
Great Finish in Spite of Car Set Up

July 17, 2016
Logano managed to finish P3 despite an “experimental” set up.

Joey Logano needed a good finish after the DNF from the week before at Kentucky. New Hampshire Motor Speedway (or Loudon) has been a track that Joey has won at in the past, so hopes were high he could do it again. There was also the added pressure on his team mate Brad Keselowski to win and join the elite that have won three races in a row.

Loudon is a mile track, fairly flat with only 2 – 7 degrees of banking. The fuel window is 80-85 laps. It had rained the night before the race, so there was to be a competition Caution at lap 35.

Todd Gordon was running an “experimental” set up on Logano’s car. They felt they knew how to set the car up for the next time they run during the Chase, so wanted to try some “out of the box” things at this race. Joey ran P1 / P6 and P6 during qualifying, putting him on the outside for the start.

During the pre-race laps, Joey came on the radio and stated, “Let’s play hard and get a “Lobstah” (part of the winnings) at the end of the day.” Todd Gordon answered, “Let us know what you need during the race.”

The race started with Logano and Hamlin fighting for P5/P6, with Joey P5 for one lap, then being passed by Hamlin. Track position is very hard to come by at New Hampshire as the laps go by so fast and there is really only one “groove” to run in due to the lack of banking. From the start, the “experimental set up” seemed to not be a good idea. Logano complained of being free, then tight, and very quickly started dropping down in position. When the competition Caution came out at lap 35, Joey was P8 and stated, “I need something to keep the steering on the front end for the long run.”

Logano took 2 tires, with an air pressure adjustment, and came off pit road P4 and started on the outside. By lap 51 Joey had dropped to P7 and stated over the radio, “I need a little bit of everything. It’s not crazy awful in one spot, it is just beating me everywhere.” By lap 62 he had dropped to P10 and came over the radio stating, “I’m losing it everywhere.” Todd stated, “copy, work the track bar.” By lap 95, with Joey in P15, he came over the radio and stated, “It is really, really bad here.” He dropped one more spot to P16 when a Caution came out at lap 100 for the 34 of Chris Buescher spinning.

Logano took four tires on pit road, and Todd came on the radio stating the lack of drive may be due to old right rear tires. Spotter Tab stated, “I’m getting sprinkles up here, but it is not a big cloud.” NASCAR decided to drive a few caution laps to make sure the rain was clear before restarting on lap 109. Joey started P16, but by lap 124 had dropped to P18. Todd came on the radio and said, “We’ll go the other way when we stop next.” Around lap 145, Logano came on the radio and stated that the car was seeming to hang a little better than the last run.

Green flag pit stops started at lap 181 with the 48 of Jimmie Johnson. Logano came in on lap 182 and took 4 tires. He was at P16 but only 3 away from being lapped by the leader Kyle Busch. He asked Spotter Tab to let the 43 know to not mess around and let the leaders catch them. He passed for P15 on lap 192.

At lap 209, Joey came on the radio and stated the balance was awful and he kept going toward the wall. A Caution for debris came out at lap 219. Logano pitted for 4 tires and came off pit road P14, but restarted P13 on the inside. Todd came on the radio and stated they could definitely make it without an issue to the end of the race but would like a caution.

By lap 263 Logano was again moving the wrong way and was at P16 when another caution came out for debris. At the front of the pack, Kenseth had passed Truex for the lead. All the leaders pitted except for Hamlin. Joey took four tires and restarted P13 inside. Truex was having major issues with being stuck in 4th gear and no clutch. But it seemed that finally Logano’s set up may be right, he started moving up through the pack. With 30 laps to go, Joey was at P7 when the Caution came out for the 88 having a flat and hitting the wall, at the same time the 24 also made contact with the wall. On the last restart Joey had made some contact with Brad Keselowski and asked what the right side of the car looked like. Spotter Tab stated that the “Goodyear” was a little messed up but it looked ok. During the Caution, NBC interviewed Todd and he stated, “I told you this set up would be good toward the end of the race.”

At lap 280 the Caution came out for Brad having a flat and locking up the left side tire. Spotter Tab and Todd both told Joey that the damage was mainly cosmetic to his car. After the restart with 17 laps to go, Joey quickly moved to P4 but a Caution came out when on the restart the 42 spun out after being involved with the 32, 19 and 5. Joey stated he may have gotten damage from the 14 on the restart. Todd stated it was rubbing a bit on the right but seemed ok at speed. Joey asked for confirmation that he was the first car on 4 tires, and that was agreed. On the restart with 12 to go, Joey was for a short time at P2, but fell to P3 and finished the race at that position. Quite a comeback from being almost a lap down at one point.

Team owner Roger Penske came on the radio at the end and said, “Great job today – thanks for not quitting.”

The next race is the Brickyard 400 at Indy. This may prove an interesting field of drivers. If Dale Jr. is still not cleared to race, Jeff Gordon is slated to come out of retirement to drive the 88.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: joeylogano.com

Kentucky Quaker State 400
Logano wasn’t “Lucky in Kentucky”

July 9, 2016
Crash at lap 54 takes Joey out and gives him a DNF.

I look forward to the Quaker State 400 every year. This is my “home” track and we’ve attended every CUP race except for the first year (as well as Truck and Xfinity). We were camping for the first time this year, so wouldn’t have to wait in all the traffic leaving the track after Saturday’s race.

And the track itself was new. Kentucky has been notorious for bumps and weepers, and a major project was undertaken to redo the track, laying hundreds of miles of weeper tile, changing the banking drastically in turns 1 and 2, and repaving to smooth the surface out. As one crew chief put it on Sirius/XM, all their notes were good for what restaurants to visit while in the area.

The cars themselves were going to be using the new low downforce package that almost eliminates the front splitter and shortens the back spoiler. Goodyear was bringing a different tire for the right sides of the car – similar to the one used in Michigan. This was after a tire test in June at the track showed a lot of blistering of the softer tire. Goodyear also recommended all tires be “scuffed” before use because the new track was slick, and the track used some type of contraption that had tires on it running backwards to try and lay down at least some rubber before the truck race.

Since it was Kentucky – as in every year past – it rained. This year, the same as last year, the Cup cars did not get to qualify. Instead, starting position was done by points. This put the #22 starting at P4 on the outside, with his partner car #2 starting in P2. It rained quite a lot of Friday for a short period of time, so whatever rubber was on the track was washed off before the Xfinity race. There was to be a competition Caution at lap 25.

Logano stated on the radio during the pre-laps, “Let’s have a good one. It will probably get crazy at times”. Crew chief Todd Gordon knew the 22 was not where they wanted it to be, but stated they would “keep working on it”.

It was evident that Joey’s car was a handful from the start. He quickly dropped from P2 to P11 by lap 3. Joey was complaining of being loose and working the track bar. He managed to get one spot back and was P10 by lap 4.

The first of what turned out to be several wrecks in Turn 4 happened at lap 10. The 17 of Stenhouse hit the wall and had a brake rotor disintegrate. That put the 17 out for the evening. Joey said he was ok in clean air, but he just couldn’t move in a crowd, nor could he run higher on the track. Todd elected to have Joey stay out during the Caution.

The race restarted at lap 14 with Logano P10 on the outside. He moved up to P9 by the time of the competition Caution at lap 26. Joey stated he just couldn’t get into turn 3 at speed, he was tight at the exit of turn 2. He took 2 tires and came off pit road P4, but the 41 elected to stay out which put Joey P5 for the restart at lap 30. Logano quickly dropped to P7 on lap 32 when another Caution came out. Again, it was turn 4, this time the 48 of Jimmie Johnson spun out and had to go behind the wall. Joey did not pit and restarted P7 and battled for a few laps until being passed by the 2 of Keselowski. By lap 52, Logano had dropped all the way down to P23.

At lap 54, it unfortunately was Joey’s turn to hit the wall in Turn 4. Everything on the right side of the car was destroyed, luckily it was a flat hit. Again, just as with the 17, the brake rotor disintegrated. At first, the crew, including some of Brad’s, were going to try and put the car back out, but it soon became evident that it was a hopeless task and Joey was out for the night.

Jim Noble stated that Joey’s brake rotors were glowing right before he hit.

Cars continued to have issues with turn 4 all night. The 83, 21, 24, 47, 34, 44, and 14 all suffered damage in the turn, some repairable , some night ending but all having Cautions come out (eleven total for the night). The 47 of Dinger was able to get back out and promptly blew on turn 1 at lap 173. Another caution came out at lap 194 when Landon Cassil had a tire go down in turn 1.

Brad Keselowski took the lead on lap 200 and ran from the rest of the pack. It then became a waiting game to see if the #2 had enough fuel to finish the race. He did, but had to get a push to Victory Lane.

While it wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for, I’ll take another Penske driver win if it isn’t Joey. This is Brad’s 3rd Cup win at Kentucky (and he didn’t cut his hand on the champagne bottle like he did in 2014). I also was lucky enough to have a friend with Hot Passes and got 2 lug nuts each from Joey and Brad’s car. It didn’t rain on Saturday, which is a first. And there was excitement in the parking lot during the race. Black smoke started blowing over the racetrack – someone had put a grill in a truck and evidently it wasn’t out and set the truck, as well as cars on both sides, on fire.

My husband took the attached photo while Joey was still in the race and I was taking notes.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: Tom Strothers

Daytona 400
Team Penske Dominates the Coke Zero 400

July 2, 2016
Brad Keselowski finishes P1 and Joey Logano P4.

The Fourth of July weekend has traditionally been the second race of the year held at Daytona Speedway. Unlike the spring race, this one is 400 miles (160 laps) on the 2.5 mile oval. The pit window is approx. 45-48 laps. It had rained during the day before the race, so the track was clean and the weather cooler. There was to be a competition Caution at lap 20 for this reason.

Joey Logano did not do well in qualifying and started at P11 on the inside row. During the pre-race laps, Joey and owner Roger Penske traded talk on the radio, with the Captain stating it had been too long since Joey had been in Victory Lane at Daytona (Feb 2015).

The race started out in typical restrictor plate fashion with cars going 3 wide from the beginning. Lanes were trying to form up, and depending on which were moving was where cars were in position. By the time the competition Caution came out at lap 20, Logano had moved up to P3 with the 2 of Brad Keselowski and the 17 of Stenhouse in P1 and P2.

Joey was the first car to take 4 tires, which put him at P12 on the outside for the restart. The 20 and 78 took fuel only. The 17 of Stenhouse said he would go wherever Joey went. By lap 29 the cars were 3 wide again. Lots of passing back and forth, again depending on what lane was moving forward. Meanwhile, Brad and the #2 continued to stay in the P1 position. The 21 of Ryan Blaney was behind Logano for a time and helping push him forward when possible. By lap 43 Joey was at P10, but stated he had less grip on this run, depending on the air he was in.

Logano moved down to the inside lane at lap 50 and a line formed up pushing him to P2. The entire time Spotter Tab was telling Joey what lane was moving, what lane to go in, who was going to help push, etc. Tab came on the radio and stated, “Dang, That’s a lot of work!”. At lap 75, Joey took the lead, but soon dropped back to P7 with cars shuffling.

Lap 85 through 89 saw Logano bounce around from P4 to P2 when at lap 90 “The Big One” that always happens at restrictor plate races happened. Eighteen cars were involved with 10 cars out total. When Joey asked how many cars were involved, he came back with his standard “Huh!”. After pitting, the restart saw Brad and Joey at P1 and P2. The lanes began forming again and depending on what lane and where Logano was, he was running as high as P3 and as low as P8.

A Caution was called at Lap 131 for Debris. Joey said he was tight on top, but not awful when in the pack. While most pitting only took fuel, Logano again took 4 tires and restarted P16.

Logano stated, “Well, I’m up for the challenge.” Joey also asked what line the 88 of Dale Jr. was taking, but Tab told him the car was damaged and not to worry about it.

Joey again started moving up through traffic and was at P3 when a Caution came out when the 14 of Stewart ran into the wall.

During the yellow Joey said to Todd, “I’m not going to lie, I thought you had made the wrong call there. That is why you are smarter than me.” Todd stated, “That’s why I don’t tell you how to drive it.”

Before the restart, Tab came on and stated, “That’s a lot of Speedy Dry on the track, make sure to clean off the tires.” Joey stated, “Tell Brad to give me a wave or something when he wants me to push.” Tab said, “Message Delivered.”

Another Caution quickly came out, with Todd stating, “we are obviously staying out.” Joey, “Copy.” This caution lead to a NASCAR overtime. Brad won, but on the last lap, Joey got loose and hit the 41 of Kurt Busch and spun him, with Joey crossing the finish line at P4.

The next race is my “home” race – the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. I will be writing from our seats in the Indiana Tower.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: joeylogano.com

Sonoma 350

June 26, 2016
As you can see in the photo I am at a different road course, mid-Ohio for vintage Grand Prix. I am still cheering Joey on at Sonoma!

Next article from me will be Daytona for Coke Zero 400.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: Missy Strothers

Michigan 400
Logano Punches His Ticket for the Chase!

June 12, 2016
Michigan and the new aero package proves to be the answer to a win.

While Joey Logano has had consistent top 10 finishes in 2016, he had yet to win and get a spot in the Chase. Several times Joey was on the pole or P2 for the start of the race, but was not able to carry this through the entire race. Michigan and this weekend was different and Joey was finally able to make it to Victory Lane.

Michigan is a mile and a half track. Fuel window is 40-46 laps and track temperature at the start of the race was 123F.

Joey started off the weekend strong, posted P1 in all three qualifying rounds. Joey had a great looking helmet on, with the engine and piston logo and “Established 1990” on it (his birth year). Before the race, Joey, Spotter Tab and Crew Chief Todd Gordon discussed what this new down force package may mean, probably slowing down in the corners. Joey stated, “Let’s be consistent and race to win”. Todd said, “You did an awesome job on Friday” and Tab said, “10-4!”

Joey started on the outside lane. He did not have a good start and lost grip in the turn and fell back to P4. The track was full of trash and most of the front runners were complaining of debris on the grills. Joey managed to pass the 14, 11 and 78 who were all dropping back for debris, putting Joey in P1. Logano complained that the wind was affecting the car in turns 3 and 4. He still had debris on his grill at lap 32, but Todd stated that they would probably have to brush it off and would be pitting in the next few laps.

Logano green flag pitted on lap 41, but the 2 of Brad Keselowski stayed out. This put Joey at P3 for a time until lap 46 when it seemed that Brad was running low on fuel. Truex spun out in front of Logano, but Joey got through the tire smoke unharmed. This brought out the first Caution of the race – the longest green flag run at the beginning of a Michigan Cup race since 2001. The race restarted with Joey in the lead at lap 50, but a quick Caution came out at lap 54 when the 18 of Kyle Busch blew an engine and went directly to the garage. The back half of the drivers pitted, but Logano and the other front runners elected to stay out as they had only a few laps on their tires. The 11 of Hamlin was in P2 and had a terrible restart. Joey easily went out for the lead, but the field was running three and four wide behind him. In the words of Spotter Tab, “Lord have mercy, there is pandemonium back there!”

And sure enough, at lap 62, there was a wreck between the 88 of Dale Jr. and the 47 of Dinger, with both going to the garage.

After the restart, Spotter Tab commented again, “It’s mayhem back there, they are 4 wide!” At lap 76, Logano complained that he was not able to run his practice line. Green flag pit stops started at lap 93, with Joey and the 24 of Chase Elliott pitting on lap 94. Keselowski was still on a different pit strategy and pitted at lap 99.

A Caution came out at lap 102 when Jeffrey Earnhardt went into the wall. Joey was back at P1. Another Caution came out at lap 109 when Jeffrey caught on fire.

Todd came on the radio and stated, “The guys that pitted the last time are going to try and make it on one more pit stop. If we save, we can try to do the same”. Spotter Tab came on the radio and said, “Tell you what – the Clean Up crew is putting down their fair share of material. Joey stated, “They might run out.”

Joey restarted on the outside again at lap 105, but with 84 laps to go was passed by the 24 of Elliott for the lead. At lap 147 a Caution came out for debris and the 7 into the wall. Joey and Elliott pit, but Elliott beat Logano off pit road. Todd stated he wanted to make sure they were “full/full/full” and speculated that the 24 may not have enough fuel to last the race. After the restart, Todd stated that most of the field was saying they were one lap short on fuel, and the 24 probably more.

With 46 laps to go, a Caution came out when the 44, 5 and 10 were involved in a wreck. Joey had just made a pass on Elliott for the lead. At the restart, Joey easily moved ahead of the 24. Todd came on the radio and said the 24 had to make the shift from 2nd to 3rd gear before the 22. With 15 laps to go, Logano was told the 24 was starting to save fuel.

A Caution came out with 12 laps to go when Hamlin spun out.

Todd was interviewed on TV during the Caution. He stated, “I put Joey against anyone in the field. The new package and he go well together.” Joey had led 129 laps of the race so far.

For the restart, Joey asked about possibly trying the inside (he had been using the outside on the restart all race). Todd stated, “I’d do what you’ve been doing, but you drive the race car”. Joey elected to stay with the outside lane.

With 7 laps to go, Stenhouse cut a tire, but was able to get down to pit road with no caution.

AND JOEY LOGANO WON THE RACE AND GOT TO BURN THOSE TIRES OFF!!!

The Cup series is off next week, the next race will be the road course of Sonoma.

Follow and chat with me here: @missystrothers

Charlotte Coca Cola 600
A Long, Grueling Race Ends in a P9 for Logano

May 29, 2016
Sunday was an auto racing fan’s dream. Woke up in the morning and watched the Grand Prix of Monaco, then switched to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, and finished off the day with the longest NASCAR race of the year, the Coca Cola 600. Thank goodness for TV!

Joey Logano was coming off a stellar week after winning the Sprint All Star race the week before on the same Charlotte track. While that race wasn’t for points, it did get Joey’s foundation a huge part of the million dollar winning check. Joey also had won the fall race at Charlotte in 2015, so he had won the past two races held at the track.

Coming into qualifying, Logano was fast. P1 in round one, P1 in round two and P2, behind Martin Truex for pole position. Unfortunately, other than 4 laps, Truex kept that number one spot the entire night (although I was glad to see him get that win).

It had rained overnight and the start of the race was bumped up due to rain still threatening the area. There was to be competition Caution at lap 25 due to the rain. And it was hot, temperatures inside the cars after the start of the race were 120F. Many drivers stated they lost at least 10lbs during the Charlotte race. The fuel window is 50-56 laps, however, tire fall off was unsure as this was the same tire Goodyear had brought to the All Star race and untested over long runs.

Joey stayed P2 – P3 until the competition Caution at Lap 26. He was complaining that he was having trouble coming out of turn 1 and 2 and was working the track bar. Crew Chief Todd Gordon stated they would adjust air pressure in the tires and try to give Logano something more to work with in the turns. Joey was P2 off pit road and started on the outside to Truex, but dropped to P3 when passed by the 11 of Hamlin. Logano asks spotter Tab Boyd to let him know what lanes other cars are trying during the race so he can see if they work for him. At lap 41, Spotter Tab came over the radio saying “Larson is running the wall” – hardly surprising since that is where Kyle Larson loves to run.

Logano was still complaining about going in and coming out of turns and being tight and loose. At lap 54 he was passed by the 48 of Jimmie Johnson. Spotter Tab said the 4 of Harvick was running the top, while the 2 of Brad Keselowski was running “everywhere”. At lap 70 there were 19 cars on the lead lap.

Joey managed to pass Hamlin and get back to P3 on lap 73, but by lap 77, green flag pit stops had started. Logano pitted on lap 78, as did Martin Truex. Joey came off pit road P4. At lap 103, Brad Keselowski passed Joey and he was at P5. At lap 112, Logano again had caught the 11 and passed for P4.

A Caution (the first other than the competition caution) came out at lap 114 when the 44 spun. Logano was P4 off of pit lane, moved up to P2 for a bit, but then fell back to P5. At lap 122, Joey passed the 4 of Harvick for P4 and at lap 129 passed the 42 of Larson for P3. By lap 136 there were 20 cars on the lead lap. Logano stated at lap 145 the car was the best he had all day, but by lap 159 he complained it was starting to get loose again.

Green flag pit stops started again at lap 165. During the exchange, Joey was credited with leading one lap and pitted at lap 167. Once everything settled out Logano was P2 again, but was passed on lap 187 by the 48 to go to P3.

On lap 202 there was a Caution when the 32 of Jeffrey Earnhardt spun. Logano came off pit road again P2 behind Truex, but was passed at lap 229 by the 48. Joey was complaining he needed more of everything on the car.

Green flag pitting started on lap 254, and Logano was P3 off of pit road behind the 19 of Carl Edwards and Truex. However, Joey’s pit crew was penalized for being over the wall too soon and Joey had to do a drive through penalty on pit road, which put him a lap down. At lap 262 he was the only car one lap down (and would have been the recipient of the free pass if a Caution had come out) but soon there was the 21 of Ryan Blaney (who had had pit penalties early on) and the 27 was also one lap down. Joey did pass both to, again, be in the free pass position.

Logano early pitted at lap 297, while most of the leaders came in at lap 298. Joey was again on the lead lap at P14 on lap 302. He steadily moved up by passing the 42 at lap 346, 16 at lap 351, 18 at lap 380 to put his car at P9. This was where Logano finished, which was a great recovery after being a lap down.

The race itself was long, and somewhat anticlimactic with Truex leading so many laps. While I am glad for his team, the racing was not the passing we have seen in recent races. This has always been a complaint of mile and a half tracks, and some of the new aero packages were put in place to help make these races more exciting for the fans. There will be some changes that will happen for Kentucky, and since I will be in the stands for that race, I’ll be able to report if these help in the rest of the field.

Send me a tweet: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Sprint All Star Race – Charlotte
Logano Wins the All Star Race!

May 21, 2016
Joey’s strategy, driving and luck paid out big time Saturday night.

In what was a rain soaked, shortened weekend of racing, Joey got his first win of the season, and a one million dollar check to go with it. Unfortunately it doesn’t count in the Chase, but that win will come soon.

The Spring All Star Race is different from every other race that is run during the season. Different rules packages are often used, different ways of running the race including heats, different ways of qualifying including the shoot out and the fan vote. Sometimes it can make for what seems a confusing race, but looking at it after the fact with what was in place, it is easy to see that this year’s race was built around strategy, pit crew capability, and just plain luck.

While there were supposed to be several practice sessions on Friday, the weather just did not cooperate. One very short session was worked in, but not all cars were able to run laps, so most were going into the race on Saturday with no knowledge of how their cars or the track would run.

The drivers who were automatically in the race were last year’s winners and those who had made the Chase last year. 3 positions were set by the Spring Shootout – with the #6 of Bayne, the #16 of Biffle, and #42 of Larson winning a place in the race. The final two positions were set by fan votes, going to the #24 of Chase Elliott and the #10 of Danica Patrick, for a 20 car field. Since not all cars got practice time in, pole position was set on owner points with the following line up for the start of the All Star Race:

#4 / 18(75) / 41 / 19 / 48 / 2 / 24 / 22 / 78 / 88 / 20 / 11 / 1 / 31 / 6 / 5 / 14 / 42

There were some rule changes in place for the cars. Some for just the All Star Race and one which will probably be for the rest of the season. There was a change to “toe” adjustment – a setting on how the wheels track. Goodyear was also bringing an all new tire to the race, so drivers were not familiar with its handling. The one change that will continue after this race is NASCAR limiting the number and power of brake fans. All the cars have brake fans to keep the brakes from heating up, but many of the cars had been turning these fans so that instead of blowing on the brakes, they were blowing and changing the aerodynamics of the cars.

The race was run in three “sessions”. Session One was 50 laps, with a required green flag pit stop of at least 2 tires. Another pit stop was required after Session One and place off of Pit Road would set position for Session Two. Session Two was another 50 laps and required another green flag pit stop before lap 86 (total) or 36 (session) when Pit Lane would be closed. At the end of Session Two a drawing would determine if the top 9, 10 or 11 cars would pit, then the remaining cars still on the lead lap would take over the restart for Session Three which was a 13 lap session. If this seems confusing, bear with me, I’ll explain as we go along.

To confuse things more, Kyle Busch was driving the #75 M&Ms car, not the 18, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the candy. Spotter Tab and most people decided to just refer to him as the 18 because that was what they were used to.

Since this was Tony Stewart’s last All Star Race, he was the “grand marshal” and got to give the start engine command from inside his car.

The #22 paint scheme of Joey Logano, while looking like his familiar red and yellow Penzoil from far away, was actually made up of photos celebrating the 50 years of Penske racing. Very cool detail.

Logano had a fast car and quickly moved up the field getting to P3 by lap 23. Strategies began to come into play here as cars started their green pit stops. Do they pit now and go ahead when the leaders finally pit? Do they wait until the last minute? Do they take 2 or 4 tires? Joey elected to stay out and went to P1 at lap 35. At lap 44 (remember, cars must GREEN pit in the 50 laps) Joey pitted for left side only tires. He made it back out on the track and was P8 when the Caution came out for McMurray spinning with a blown tire. Several were on pit road at that time. Matt Kenseth did not get to pit under green since the 50th lap was still at yellow, and was penalized a lap for not doing so, causing a lot of discussion and misunderstanding both by the announcers and on social media.

That ended Session One. At the time Logano was P7. All cars again pitted, and Joey took the other two tires and came off pit road again at P7. The #5 was penalized for an uncontrolled tire, which put Joey at P6. All cars then lined up in single file and were inspected by NASCAR for loose wheel lugs. There were eleven cars on the lead lap to start Session Two.

Logano again started passing cars and was up to P4 at Lap 15 (or 65 total) when the Caution came out for weepers (water seepage) on the track. Some of the lap down cars pitted during this time, but this would not count as their required pit because that must come under a green flag. The green flag came out at lap 21/71, but a Caution quickly came out when the 16 got into the 24, who seemed to be pitting, and the 5, 14, and 20 all were caught up in a wreck. The #14 of Stewart was pretty badly damaged, but Smoke was ok. He was not happy after he got out of the infield care center.

The cars continued to make laps under the yellow while all the debris was cleared. Spotter Tab came over the radio and stated, “I don’t know why they didn’t red flag this”. Remember – all cars needed to pit under green and before lap 35/85. It was getting very close to that point in the race.

The green finally came out at lap 30/80 and Logano pitted on lap 32/82 for right side only. He came off the pit P11 but by the time the 50/100 laps were finished for Session Two he had worked his way up to P4.

At this break, a card was chosen to determine if the first 9, 10 or 11 cars would need to pit, while the rest on the lead lap would move to the starting positions. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick had been letting themselves move back in the pack hoping that their position would be the one picked to put them at P1. Number 11 was picked, which put Jimmie Johnson at P1 for the restart. Logano and the other top spots pitted, Joey took 4 tires and was P4 off pit road. There were now 13 cars on the lead lap and they all, again, did a single file pass down pit road for lug nut inspection.

The line up for the last restart of 13 green flag laps was as follows for the top cars:
48 / 18(75) / 42 / 88 / 22 / 41

The 42 started out strong and moved to the head of the pack. The 48 just didn’t have the tires to keep up. At lap 12, Larson was P1, Joey P2, and Keselowski P3, when Larson over drove and Logano was able to move past for P1, Brad for P2.

JOEY WON THE SPRINT ALL STAR RACE AND ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

After the win, Logano stated that this was another one to put on his resume. He was excited to be bringing this momentum to next week’s Coca Cola 600, again at Charlotte. When asked if he had plans for the money, he seemed stunned, then stated he’d probably give it away.

On May 24, Joey will turn 26 years old. What an awesome early birthday present!

Send me a tweet: @missystrothers

Can you see Penske 50 years of racing?? Image courtesy: LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Kansas 400
DNF Again

May 7, 2016
Joey Logano just can’t seem to get a break! It seems like there is a curse hanging over the #22 team (doesn’t matter what car) this year. At some tracks Joey has qualified fantastic, and just couldn’t get to the top spot in time. At others he’s had to fight back through penalties, but still can’t get quite there. And the last two weeks there has to be a bullseye or something on his car. His “luck” has got to change soon, he is way overdue and he has been driving his heart out.

Kansas is one of the mile and a half speedways in the circuit. There are 267 laps, with a fuel window of approx. 54 laps. This was an evening race, and the starting temperature at track level was 104F, but as the race went on, things would definitely change.

Logano didn’t do as well as he has been in qualifying, coming up short of the last cut and starting P14 on the outside. He had won this race last year, so the team was going in with high hopes for a repeat.

At Lap 23, Joey had managed to move a few spots up to P11 when there was a Caution for debris on the track. Joey pitted as did all the field. Spotter Tab and Logano were discussing the line that Earnhardt Jr. was running.

Joey restarted P10 on the outside, and although Joey was complaining of being tight and on the splitter, managed to move up to P8 when the next Caution came out at lap 56 when the #83 of Dibenedetto hit the wall. Joey took four new tires and asked if there was anything wrong with the set that had just come off his car, stating, “They just felt funny”, but Todd stated nothing was showing by the numbers.

Logano restarted P8 on the inside at lap 61. He moved up and down a bit between P6 and P8 and was in clean air for a bit. By lap 100 he was a P10 after being passed by Kenseth and Johnson. Joey stated over the radio that his front tires just wouldn’t hang anymore.

Another Caution came out at lap 102 when Menard hit the wall. Joey came off P3 from pit road and he commented over the radio “Nice!” He restarted P7 on the inside at lap 107 and moved up to P8. At lap 122, Spotter Tab Boyer came over the radio and said, “That was a good lap, whatever you did there!” At lap 138 after battling for a while, Logano was able to pass the #21 of Ryan Blaney and stayed at P7 until lap 149 when Brad Keselowski passed Joey. Logano came over the radio and stated, “If I run on the top I get tight, if I run on the bottom it frees up”.

At lap 154, Blaney passed Logano putting him at P9. Green flag pit stops started and Joey stayed out 5 laps longer, managing to run a lap scoring at P1. Once all the pit stops cleared, Joey was back at P8 when a Caution came out for debris at lap 168. Joey was the first to pit and restarted P9. He complained over the radio, “When I get in dirty air, it is so/so. I can’t make it last, the front goes, then the back goes." Joey quickly dropped to P14, but with 88 laps to go in the race was back up to P9. At lap 194, Joey was again passed by Blaney and back to P10, but Logano was finally liking how the car was handling.

Green flag pit stops again started with 54 laps to go. Since Logano had pitted after the leaders he stayed out another few laps and scored one lap as P1 again. Joey pitted with 52 laps to go. The dominant leader of the race up to this time, Martin Truex, had to repit for a wheel vibration and came out a lap down.

Joey came out at P12, while Tony Stewart, who did not pit was able to score his first laps at P1 for the season. At lap 234, the Caution again came out when Stenhouse hit the wall. Logano stated, "This is the best the car has been all night", pitted and came off pit road P6, but restarted with 31 laps to go at P8 due to the 18 and 20 not pitting.

Logano had managed to move up to P5 with 25 laps to go, when his luck, once again, ran out for the night. The #2 of Keselowski, the #11 of Hamlin and the #42 of Larson were three wide in front of Joey when the 2 began to go sideways, pulling the draft off the 11 and causing him to go sideways and into the 42. The 11 then spun and with all the smoke, there was nowhere for Joey to go. He stayed as close to the wall as he could, but t-boned Hamlin and the 22 was done for the night and towed back to the trailer. This was the second DNF for Logano in a row.

The race was won by Kyle Busch – his first win at Kansas and his third win of the year.

I won’t have a Logano report next week for Dover as I will be doing real time Facebook reporting for NASCARFemale. Follow us on Facebook and I promise to be all inclusive, unless Joey wins ☺

Send me a tweet: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Talladega 500
Looked More Like Demolition Derby than a NASCAR Race

May 1, 2016
Restrictor plate racing at the super speedway turns out its usual carnage.

A couple of definitions before my details of the Talladega race:
Restrictor plate – a device installed at the air intake of an engine to limit its power. This is used at the super speedways of Daytona and Talladega. This is, in theory, to make the cars more equal in completion and limit the speeds achievable. In reality, it usually leads to a lot of wrecked cars.
Bump drafting – at the tracks that use restrictor plates, the cars no longer have the power to clear the car being passed in a slingshot affect. A car will instead pull up to the car in front of it and “bumps” it in the rear to help it pass another car. It takes cooperation as hitting certain parts of the car in front may contribute to a spin rather than a push.

(And you may be able to tell from this, I am NOT a fan of restrictor plate racing)

Talladega wasn’t one of Joey Logano’s better tracks prior to this weekend, and I’m sure it is way down on the list now. Logano ran the Xfinity race and was on the lead on the last lap when Elliot Sandler spun Joey hard into the wall, and went on to win that race. Sunday wasn’t much better.

Logano did not do well in qualifying, coming in P22. There was rain threatening the race, so it was started early. 95 laps would make it an official race (just past halfway of the 188 laps expected). The fuel window at Talladega is 42-48 laps.

With the threat of rain, the 3 wide racing that usually doesn’t happen at the start of a Talladega race began almost from the drop of the green flag. But the field was able to hold it together and go for 50 laps under green. Joey drove most of this time in the middle lane, and at one point at lap 14 he was at P3, but the lanes kept falling on the drafting and for a good portion of the beginning of the race Logano ran around P7 to P13. Green flag pit stops were performed around lap 37/38.

The first Caution of the day came out at lap 50 when the 88 of Dale Jr. wrecked. Jr. seemed to be having issues with his car all day, including not having the steering wheel hooked up at one point. On the restart, Joey asked to have the 78 behind him instead of the 20, and Spotter Tab stated “Imagine that!” (more on Kenseth later).

At lap 58 another Caution came out when the 55 of Michael Waltrip wrecked. Joey was in the process of trying to push Truex Jr. and got jostled back to P14. He dropped as far back as P21 at one point and as high as P10. He was trying to move low to get ready for pitting when a horrible wreck involving Chris Buescher flipping several times happened. Thankfully Chris was not hurt. But the 48, 3, 35, 46 and 19 were all involved and Joey did suffer some damage. Once the damage was repaired, he came out P30, but his concern on the radio was if Chris was alright.

After everyone cycled through, Logano was P18 and had moved up to P8 when the 88 and 19 were involved in another wreck. Joey asked about the weather, and was told it would probably hold for the race. At lap 116, Logano started P7 on the outside.

At lap 127 another Caution came out, this time for Kasey Kahne. Joey pitted for right sides only. He restarted inside at P9. After the restart, a third lane began building again, with Joey in the middle. With 42 to go, crew chief Todd Gordon wanted Joey to get down on the inside for pitting, but at lap 36 to go there was a Caution for David Ragan hitting the wall. Logano took fuel only and came out at P6. With 30 to go, he was the middle of 3, then moved behind Brad Keselowski (who was leading at the time) to P2.

With 28 laps to go, a huge wreck occurred that started with the 48 of Jimmie Johnson being turned sidewise. 17 cars total were involved. The race restarted with 22 laps to go, Joey on the outside with the 20 of Matt Kenseth behind. Joey moved to P1, but a Caution for debris was called with 20 laps to go. With 17 to go, Joey restarted P2 and got behind the 20. The 20 then went down below the double yellow line and passed cars, which is not permitted at Talladega, but NASCAR ruled that Logano pushed Kenseth below the line. Joey fell out of the line of cars and down to P13 when with 9 laps to go another huge wreck occurred with the 10 of Danica Patrick taking out Kenseth, the 43 of Almirola hitting Joey, and another 12 cars involved.

Brad Keselowski won the race (I think the announcers stated there were only 3 cars with no damage left in the race). Joey was scored at P25, but as an accident.

After the race, Matt Kenseth had some words with Logano. Joey was interviewed right afterwards, but all Joey did was talk about the race. When asked specifically if there was a problem with Kenseth, Logano just stated, “he’ll have to get in line” and refused to talk more.

Send me a tweet: @missystrothers

Image courtesy: motorsport.com

Richmond 400
Still Not Where the #22 Needs to Be

April 24, 2016
It was another day of racing up and down the field for Joey Logano.

Joey Logano had a busy weekend at Richmond. Even though Brad Keselowski was driving the #22 in the Xfinity race, Joey was in the Fox broadcasting booth to call the race. Leading up to Joey going from Cup practice to the booth, he was shown stating; “I’m ready. There will be heat racing. There will be no Kyle Busch. Let me get changed and I’ll head up to the booth.”

Richmond Raceway is a “short” track. 400 laps are equal to 300 miles. The fuel window is approx. 108 laps, but most felt tire fall off would cause cars to pit long before that.

Qualifying was rained out and starting position was done on the last practice session, putting Logano starting at P2 on the outside. But Joey’s car started out bad and he continued to drop through the field. By lap 78 he was at P26, and was lapped by the leaders on lap 80. Pit stops started for the leaders on lap 86, with Joey pitting on lap 91. After coming off pit row he was 2 laps down, but made up to 1 lap down by lap 97. He complained that his car could hang for about 20 laps, than started to fall off hard.

A Caution came out for debris at lap 157 (this was the longest green flag run at Richmond since 1979). Logano stated, “we’re getting closer, I didn’t go as far on the track bar this time”. Joey came off pit road at P25 with 6 cars ahead of him one lap down. By lap 176, Logano was near Ryan Blaney and Spotter Tab Boyer was not happy with Blaney blocking Joey.

Another Caution came out at lap 195 and Logano came off pit road at P23, still one lap down. Joey said they were more competitive this run, but still falling off. At lap 251 another Caution came out for debris and Joey was the second car one lap down, behind the 14. Another Caution came out at lap 269 for the 14 having a flat, which put Logano in the free pass position and on the lead lap. Joey’s car needed a bit of work on the right rear skirt from an early bump, but at the restart at lap 273 he was back on the lead lap at P20.

There were a lot of loose wheel complaints, and a lot of tires going down the entire race. In the closing laps of the race, there were Cautions with 89 to go, 83 to go, 76 to go, and 42 to go. Each of these helped Joey move up in the field, including not pitting on a few of these. When the race ended, Joey was at P8, with Carl Edwards winning his second race in a row.

The week following was filled with comments (and fines for Tony Stewart) around lug nut numbers and NASCAR made a new ruling that there must be 5 lug nuts on every tire at the beginning and end of the race.

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Up and Down the Field at Bristol

April 17, 2016
Bristol in the spring is just not a good race for Joey Logano.

While the #22 has won the past two fall races at Bristol, the spring race continues to be a frustration. Sunday’s race was no different.

Bristol Motor Speedway, “The Last Great Colosseum” is a short track of 0.533 miles. Five hundred laps is a race of 266 miles. The track is very steeply banked and leads to a lot of “rubbin and racin” and wrecks. The fuel window is 150-160 laps, but in Sunday’s race, tires were the issue. It is also unique in that there are two parts to pit road.

Joey qualified P3 for the race. At the start, the 88 of Junior had an issue (possible ECU) and held up a lot of traffic, but was able to get going. Joey passed Hamlin at the start, but by lap 15 was back at P3. Once the leaders moved into lapped traffic, Logano was able to take advantage and moved to P1 at lap 37, but was back down to P3 by lap 41. He had move back to P2 when on lap 52 the Caution came out for the 18 of Kyle Busch blowing a tire.

Logano came off pit road P3 and bounced around to P5. Joey was complaining his splitter was hitting. Joey held this spot until lap 71 when a caution came out when Stenhouse spun and hit the wall. The top five stayed out including Logano, but after the restart he was shuffled down to P7. Todd Gordon, Joey’s crew chief made the comment that the bottom of the track has “sucked so far”.

At lap 106, Joey managed to get back up to P6 but complained of a right front vibration and with the way tires were handling it was decided to pit at lap 110. Joey lost 2 laps for the pit stop, and another when he had to do a pass through penalty due to an uncontrolled tire. Logano was 3 laps down when at lap 115 the caution came out for Buescher spinning and hitting the wall. The team decided to stay out and take a wave around to be 2 laps down, which put Joey at P36 on the restart.

At lap 147 a caution came out for a hard hit by the 42 of Kyle Larson. Joey pitted and restarted at lap 151, the first car 2 laps down. Joey came over the radio and stated “We needed that caution 30 laps later”.

At lap 187, Kenseth hit the wall for another caution. Joey elected to stay out for the wave around to be one lap down. The 24 and 98 were also a lap down at this point. A caution came out at lap 219 when the 23 blew something, both the 24 and 22 pitted. Joey was P31 at this point.

At lap 260, the 18 hit the wall again. Joey stayed out to take the wave around and get back on the lead lap. He restarted P29. Laps 274 through 330 showed Logano moving through the field, passing the 78, 27, 15, 43, 11, 17, 1, 6, 21, 10, 21 and finally the 88 to put the 22 in P9 when at lap 330 a caution came out when the 30 of Josh Wise hit the wall. Joey pitted and restarted P9. He was P7 at lap 338 when another caution came out for Mears hitting the wall.

Joey restarted P9 and managed to move up to P7 when the caution came out at lap 350 for the 44. Joey complained about dirty tires and Spotter Tab stated “I told you to clean up the tires, I’ll tell you 20 times the next time!”

By lap 410 Logano had moved up to P4 when the caution came out for Hamlin hitting the wall (other than Carl Edwards, the Toyotas seemed to spend a lot of time against the wall this race). Joey pitted and came off P5 and bounce back and forth, but was again at P5 at lap 427 when the caution came out for the 43 hitting the wall. Tab told Joey to “clean those tires”, but the team stayed out. Joey was at P5 when another caution came out at lap 459 when the 14 hit the wall. The team elected to stay out again.

The restart at lap 464 was a disaster for Joey. He lost all power (just as the 88 did at the start of the race) and while he quickly got it back, he was already down to P15. A caution came out at lap 485 when the 46 spun out. The team pitted this time and restarted on lap 490 at P18, but a quick caution came out again when the 7 of Regan Smith was spun.

Joey restarted P17 at lap 495 and managed to end the 500 lap race at P10. The 19 of Carl Edwards, who had lead a lot of the race, finish P1 and secured his spot in the Chase (and did his signature back flip). Next week is another “short” track, Richmond International Speedway. Joey won the pole for both races there last year, and had a P5 and P3 finish. Hopefully this year will be a P1 to win his way into the Chase.

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Image Courtesy: Todd Warshaw/GettyImages

Pole Position Doesn’t Equate to Winning, Unfortunately

April 3, 2016
While Joey Logano once again managed to be on Pole for the race at Martinsville, his finish was P11.

Martinsville has been an interesting track for Joey Logano. While he does fantastic at qualifying – this was his third straight pole position in a row – the races have been anything but great. We all know (and the media the week before made sure we knew by talking about it over and over and over) the issues Joey had with Matt Kenseth in the fall of 2015 at Martinsville while Logano was leading the race. While nothing as dramatic happened this race, Joey just couldn’t seem to get his car where it needed to be to move him up in line.

Martinsville is a “short track” and the 500 laps is 263 miles in length. The fuel window is 154 laps, but most felt that tires would fall off long before that. The track temps were cool at 85 degrees, and it was felt that there would be little rubber laid down during the race.

Since Joey qualified P1 he had the prime first pit stall. Since pit road is very hard to negotiate at Martinsville this was seen as an advantage.

The race had barely started when at lap 5 the 88 of Earnhardt Junior spun and brought out the first Caution. Restarts at Martinsville are crazy – with everyone wanting the inside line, not the outside. Those that start on the outside often get “stuck” and fall back many spots before being able to get in line. Joey was still P1, but by lap 22, Menard and then Kyle Busch passed Joey to put him at P3. Logano complained he seemed to not have the drive off that others had. By lap 35 the leaders were into lapped traffic.

In quick succession, the 2, 20 and 14 passed Joey to put him at P6 and he continued to spiral down complaining that his tires were “gone”. By lap 77, he was passed by Kyle Busch to put him a lap down and at P23 and by lap 88 he was at P27 when a Caution came out for the 46 spinning. At the time there were only 18 cars on the lead lap. Logano restarted at P23 and started passing cars to get to the free pass position before another Caution could come out. At lap 132 Joey managed to pass the 1 and get the free pass position, and just in time as a Caution came out at lap 136 for the 17 up against the wall. Logano also suffered some damage during this and the “Bear Bond’ was readied on pit road by his crew.

At lap 143, Joey restarted P18 on the lead lap and had moved to P16 by lap 221 when a Caution came out for the 11 of Hamlin hitting the wall. Logano’s crew worked on the car as long as they could and still stay on the lead lap. He restarted P15 and managed to move up to P11 / P12 with a back and forth battle with the 78 of Truex.

A Caution came out at lap 312 due to the 30 into the wall. Joey stated over the radio “If we can just get the balance right, I’ll get up there”. However, Logano was P8 off pit road which put him on the outside lane for the restart. By the time he was able to get down in line, he was at P15, but had moved up to P13 at lap 383 when the 46 spun out. Joey pitted, but had a penalty for an uncontrolled tire and repitted to fix a lug nut, so restarted P14.

Another caution came out at lap 453 when the 7 spun. Joey restarted P16 on the outside but was able to move up to P14 when a Caution came out at lap 483 when the 1 had a flat tire. Logano again pitted (the leaders stayed out) and restarted P14. At lap 493 he was up to P12 when the earlier placed Bear Bond gave up and Spotter Tab had to help steer him the remaining laps of the race “Talk to me Tab!”.

Joey finished P11. Kyle Busch won his second clock of the weekend (and his second career Martinsville win) followed by a great run by A.J. Allmendinger in P2.

The next race is our first night race of the year at Texas Motor Speedway. I will be doing live posting on Facebook for the race, so will probably not be able to do a Logano wrap up of the race (unless he wins, of course!).

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Image Courtesy: GettyImages

P4 Finish for Logano at Fontana While Superman Wins the Race

March 20, 2016
Auto Club Speedway / Fontana is one of the oldest track surfaces in the NASCAR circuit. It is a 2 mile track, wide, bumpy, and lots of asphalt fill in. Cars can easily run 4 or more wide in parts of the track which makes for some exciting passing. For Sunday’s race, the track temperature was 115 degrees and combined with the rough surface was predicted to lead to tire fall off long before the fuel window of 40-44 laps.

Logano started the race P9 on the inside. Before the race, the “Captain” Roger Penske (who built this track) came on and told Joey to “Pick up where we were in Las Vegas”. Logano responded “Yes sir, we know how to do it”. He also asked Spotter Tab to let him know when cars were side by side behind him as the runs will be great.

From the start, cars were slipping and sliding on the track. By lap 6, Logano managed to make it to P6 but was quickly passed by the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. Joey complained there was a lot of trash on turn 1. Truex continued to move forward and by lap 17 he had moved to P4, but Kyle Busch then hit the wall. Tab’s comment was “Busch’s right rear quarter panel looks like Blaney’s did yesterday” ( Ryan has a substantial hit late in the Xfinity race and the back of his car was pretty much destroyed, but he stayed on the race course). This put Joey at P6 when at lap 25 a Caution came out for the 14 of Brian Vickers with a right rear tire down. The 34 also hit the wall and the 11 of Denny Hamlin was pitting due to a tire being down.

Logano was P5 going onto Pit Road and came off the same. He took 4 tires and a couple of rounds on the wedge. Due to pitting before the yellow had come out, Denny Hamlin had to go to the rear, and Joey’s comment was his usual “Huh”.

At the restart on lap 32, Joey and Brad Keselowski jostled for position of P4/P5. Todd Gordon, Joey’s crew chief was having radio issues (as were some other teams). Kenseth was trying to pass Joey on lap 46 when the 42 of Kyle Larson had a horrendous crash due to a tire going down. Luckily he was able to walk away unhurt due to the safer barrier, but his car was destroyed.

Joey was P2 off pit road with an extremely fast pit time in spite of taking 4 tires. He started on the inside with the order 4/22/19/78/20. By lap 55 after the restart dust has settled, Joey was in P5. Chase Elliott was making moves behind Logano and was behind him when at lap 72, Harvick pitted for a loose wheel. At lap 73, the 24 of Elliott passed Joey putting him at P5. Joey used the 47 of Dinger to draft and remove some debris from his grill on lap 76.

At lap 82, green flag pit stop started with Logano going in on lap 84. By the time the cars cycled through, Joey was P7 with Kevin Harvick at P1, but Harvick was about 10 laps off cycle with the rest. Joey had moved up to P6 when a caution came out at lap 109 for Trevor Bayne hitting the wall. He came off pit road to start P6 on the outside.

Another caution came out when Kasey Kane spun the 10 of Danica Patrick into the wall. Joey came off pit road P7 but started P6 due to the 19 of Carl Edwards getting a penalty for too fast on pit road. From laps 129 through 142 cars were jockeying for position with Logano around the P6 / P5 position. At lap 142, both Joey and Truex moved toward the wall, and Joey took a bit of draft off of the 78 forcing him to tap the wall. Logano apologized and ask his spotter to talk with Truex’s spotter.

A caution was called at lap 154 for debris. Logano came off pit road P2, but the 48 and 19 stayed out So Joey restarted P4. At this point, while it would be close, all could make it to the end of the race on fuel. Spotter Tab had the best comment of the day on the radio since Joey was starting behind Jimmie Johnson “We’re gonna tug on Superman’s cape!”

Logano managed to run three laps at P1, but was passed by Harvick at lap 166. By lap 182, Joey and Chase Elliott were back and forth for P4/P5. Ryan Blaney hit the wall at lap 195 but was able to keep going and a caution was not thrown, however, when Kyle Busch blew a tire at lap 198 the caution came out to put the race into overtime.

Joey came off pit road P4, with Brad Keselowski behind him for the restart, but was not able to get up to speed quickly. The race ended with “Superman” Jimmie Johnson winning, Harvick, Hamlin and Logano at P4.

Racing is off for a week due to the Easter holiday, the next Sprint Cup race is April 3rd at Martinsville.

Send me a tweet: @missystrothers

Image Courtesy: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

A Bad Pit Stop makes for a Bad Finish

March 13, 2016
Phoenix was not a good race for Joey Logano.

After such a strong finish at Las Vegas the week before, hopes were high for the Penske team at Phoenix, but it was not to be. As has become a somewhat tradition, the race was won (by a splitter) by Kevin Harvick.

Phoenix is a “short track” of 1.022 miles. The race was billed as the 500 for km, it was actually 312 miles / laps. The fuel window was approx. 81 laps, but with a track temperature of 110F, tire fall off was a larger factor for pit stops.

Logano wasn’t great in qualifying, with the three rounds putting him at P7 / P4 / and P9 on the inside for the start of the race. Joey made headway the first laps of the race, getting as far as P5 by lap 21. He complained he was loose off of turn 4. Even at P4, he was 4.4 seconds off the leader (Kyle Busch at that point). At lap 46, Logano came over the radio to say he may have tapped the lapped 95 car and to check his car for dents, but spotter Tabb came back saying there was no obvious damage to Joey’s car.

At lap 50, the 22 was passed by the 88 of Earnhardt Jr, who continued to have a strong showing most of the race. Lap 51 brought out the first caution of the race when the 31 lost a front wheel. All pitted and Logano took four tires and an adjustment and came off pit road P4.

After being passed by several cars, Joey settled in P7. Spotter Tabb told Logano he was making a “big arc and using a lot of track” compared to the other drivers. At the front of the pack, the 88 of Earnhardt took first place and the 4 of Harvick passed Kyle Busch (who had only taken 2 tires on the pit stop) for the lead. Behind Joey were the 20 and 48, while the 22 continued to make ground on the 78. However, by this time Logano was 8.6 seconds off the lead car.

Another caution came out at lap 106 when the 27 had a tire go down and dumped him into the wall. The announcers on Fox began to suspect brakes were heating up and causing the bead on the tires to fail after about 50 laps. Joey pitted for 4 tires and wedge adjustment and came off pit road P5. He was quickly passed by the 41 and 48 on the restart and settled at P7. Logano said on the radio he was snug in 1 and 2 and good in 3 and 4. At lap 153 he was passed by the 24 for P8. Talk was begun around lap 158 on green flag pit stops, when the caution came out at lap 163 for Stenhouse going into the wall.

Joey pitted and took 4 tires and was, once again, P4 off pit road. By lap 168 he moved to P3, but was 2 seconds off the leader and by lap 213 was running 4 seconds off the leader.

The fourth caution came out at lap 226 when Brad shredded a right rear tire. Logano had a horrible pit stop. The gas man missed putting the adjustment wrench into the receiver, so no adjustments could be made to Joey’s car. With all the confusion, the fuel was also short filled which was going to require Joey to pit one more time before the end of the race. Tabb was saying they were 20 laps short on fuel. While Joey came off pit road P3, due to his car being so far out of adjustment, he quickly dropped from P4 to P9 by lap 250. By lap 282, Logano was 12 seconds behind the leaders, but had to pit at lap 303 due to not having enough fuel, which put him a lap behind. Right after that, at lap 306, the caution came out for Kasey Kane having a tire go down. Most of the leaders stayed out, which put Joey at P18 for the overtime restart.

The finish of the race was nail biting if you are a Harvick or Edwards fan. Both were “rubbin and racin” until the checkered and Harvick won by a splitter. The new aero package has made for some great passing and finishes to races so far this year.

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Image Courtesy: JoeyLogano.com

Neither Rain, nor Wind, nor Sand Storm Stops the Penske Fords!

March 6, 2016
Brad Keselowski finishes P1 and Joey Logano P2 at the Las Vegas 400.

The Las Vegas 400 almost looked like the scene Brad and Joey stared in for “Sharknado 3” on Sunday. Sustained winds of 20-25 mph with gusts up to 50, rain at the National Anthem, and a sandstorm with 69 laps to go made for some exciting, if not plain strange racing.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a mile and a half track. With the new lighter downforce package in place, it was predicted that there would be a lot of passing going on, and there was. During Qualifying, Logano just couldn’t get away from the number 2 – putting himself in P2 for all three heats of Qualifying. Because of the rain and wind, there was a competition Caution expected at lap 30. The wind was playing havoc with the spotters (all were using tethers and fall protection), the cameras and the radios. Due to a brief rain shower during the National Anthem, the pace car did extra laps, and up to 70 mph, to help warm up the track and get the “vortex effect” started that Dennis Waltrop loves to talk about.

Joey started on the outside to Kurt Busch on the inside. Logano fought for position with Matt Kenseth through lap 2, but settled into P2 at lap 3, posting times about a second and a half behind the 41. By lap 20 the leader were already getting into lap traffic. Joey was fairly pleased with his car, making slight adjustments on the track bar, but when the leaders got into lap traffic, Logano complained of being loose.

The expected competition Caution came out at lap 31. Position off of pit road was the 11 (2 tires), the 41 (flagged for speeding on pit road and to the back), the 2 and the 22. Joey took 4 tires, change in air pressure and some tape. He started inside behind Hamlin and at lap 36 went past Brad for P2, then at lap 40 passed Hamlin for the P1 spot. Joey continued in P1, getting into lap traffic at lap 55. He stated over the radio to Tab that he was pretty neutral on balance, but had done 5 rounds on the track bar.

Matt Kenseth pitted on lap 76 for a vibration. The rest of the leaders started green flag pit stops on lap 81. Joey and Brad pitted on lap 82, but Brad beat Joey off pit road. Joey had led 40 laps total. At lap 86, Brad was P1, Joey P2, and there were 23 cars now on the lead lap. At lap 94, Jimmie Johnson passed Logano to put him at P3. By lap 97 the wind was beginning to gust again, with burst up to 50mph.

Caution for a water bottle was called at lap 98. Joey told Tab he was tighter than before. Logano pitted at lap 100 with the leaders, and coming off of pit road, the spots were the 48, 4 and 18 (all took 2 tires), then the 2 and Joey (who took 4 tires) putting Joey at P5. The restart was at lap 104 and Logano quickly moved up to P2 behind the 48. By lap 120 the leaders were in lapped traffic again. At lap 149, Johnson green flag pitted and Joey led for 2 laps until he pitted at lap 151. The 31 did not pit which at lap 158 had Logano at P3. He complained that in bad air he was trying to stay off the splitter. The 31 pitted at lap 163 which moved Johnson to P1 and Logano to P2. At lap 176, but Joey and Brad passed Johnson, but a Caution for debris was called at lap 187.

Brad was the first off pit road, but was flagged for speeding, putting Joey in P1 for the restart. He held that until with 70 laps to go, there was a caution for the 42 of Larson and the 47 of Almendinger getting together.

The leaders pitted with 69 to go. Logano came off pit road 7th, but was the first to take 4 tires. It was about this time that a sandstorm was sited at Nellis AFB and closing on the track fast. With 65 laps to go the race was restarted, with Joey in P8. The sandstorm was in the middle of the back straightaway by this time. Logano was holding at P7 when the Caution came out with 53 laps to go when the 7 and 42 wrecked each other.

There was some confusion over Logano’s radio channel with Todd Gordon wanting to pit, but Tab not hearing him in the wind and Joey stayed out. With 68 laps to on his current fuel run, this puts Logano just at the fuel window and in P1. It took quite a few laps to get the debris cleared, which helped Joey’s fuel situation. Tab came over the radio and said the wind was crazy and there was debris all over. The race restarted with 44 laps to go and Joey on the inside.

At the restart, the 18 of Kyle Busch pulled to P1, but the caution quickly came out at lap 43 when the 24, 19, 20 and 41 all became involved in wrecks. Tab came over the radio and said the wind had died down a bit “It’s gone from hurricane to tropical storm”.

The restart had the 18 in P1, Joey P2 on the inside and Brad P3 on the inside. Logano was complaining about dust on the bottom of the track. Kyle, Joey and Brad continued to lead the pack, even when getting into lapped traffic with 19 to go, but Joey and Brad were eating into Kyle’s lead. With 8 laps to go, Brad passed Joey, then with 6 to go, Brad passed Kyle for P1. On the last lap, Joey passed Kyle to secure a finish of P2, behind his team mate Brad’s win.

The “Western Swing” continues with the next stop being Phoenix.

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Image Courtesy: Matthew T. Thacker NKP

Sadly, Not a Repeat of Last Year

February 21, 2016
Daytona 500. The long winter is past. Cars are on the track and racing. The “silly season” of crew swaps, team swaps, and sponsor swaps is over.

While Joey Logano will always have the distinction of being a Daytona 500 winner from his run in 2015, it wasn’t to be a repeat this year. The repeat drivers are a small, elite class – Sterling Marlin, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty.

Daytona Speedway was celebrating their reopening of the “Daytona Rising” project with multi-million dollar improvements to the fan experience. And it’s the end of “Speedweek” where all the drivers have appearances, the Sprint Unlimited and the Can-Am Duel.

Daytona Speedway is a 2.5 mile track. There are 200 laps in the race, with a fuel window of 42-46 laps. It is also one of the restrictor plate tracks. The restrictor plate limits acceleration and overall top speed, which means there is not a lot of passing that happens at these races.

Logano started at P5 – 3rd on the inside row – due to his finish in Heat One of the Can-Am Duel. He had started the same in 2015 when he won the race. Joey came over the radio during the pace laps and stated “We know what to do. It would be cool to have 2 cars with confetti on them”. The winner’s car at Daytona spends the year at the track with the confetti from Victory Lane on it.

The first 15 laps of the race saw Logano moving back and forth in position from P2 to P6. He was complaining of being tight off of turn 4, and turn 4 would be the trouble spots for almost all of the cars in the race during the day.

The first Caution of the day came out at lap 19 when the 7 of Regan Smith and the 24 of Chase Elliott spun and collided. The 24 wound up in the grass with a lot of damage. The 19 of Carl Edwards was also involved. Joey pitted and took four tires and came off of Pit Road P7, most of the cars in front of him only took 2 tires but Joey was trying to deal with the handling issues he was having.

The green flag came out at lap 22 with Logano in P9. A long stint of racing followed with Joey moving staying primarily in the outer lane and moving back and forth between P9 to P19. There was no one willing to help Joey in the run to get him to move forward. Several times Logano also ran in the middle of three wide, but again, getting little help from the draft.

The Caution came out at lap 57 when the 14 being driven by Brian Vickers spun and caught the 19 (again) and 6. Logano had been warning of high temps in his car, so took 4 tires, chassis adjustment and tape off the grill. He complained that he just couldn’t be competitive where he was. The green flag come out at lap 61 with Joey at P15 and again could not get a draft working to help him, and went as far down as P26 when a Caution came out at lap 90 due to the 34 of Buescher and 93 of Matt Dibenedetto slamming into the wall. All cars were complaining of handling. Joey pitted for air pressure and wedge adjustment.
The green flag came out at lap 99 with Logano at P23. He was finally able to get something started in the middle and outside and moved up to P10 when another caution came out at lap 118 due to Biffle having a tire go down. Luckily Greg realized it was happening and pulled away from Joey or he may have been caught up in a wreck.

Todd Gordon elected to take only 2 tires this pit stop because he wanted track position and Joey came off Pit Lane P5. When the green flag came out at lap 124, Joey was finally getting help from his teammate Brad Keselowski – although Kevin Harvick was between them. At lap 141, Joey asked if he may have a loose wheel. Tab Boyer, Logano’s spotter, stated many cars were complaining about this and he couldn’t see anything, it was just how the track was running. Joey said the car was getting tighter again, but it was running better than it had at the beginning of the race.

Green flag pit stops started at lap 155, with Joey electing to take 4 tires. Everyone ahead of him took 2 again. Joey had moved up to P6/7 when the caution came out at lap 170 for the 88 of Jr. spinning out. The green flag came out at lap 174 with Logano at P5 on the inside, the leader electing to take the top row this time. Joey had moved up to P4 when the caution came out at lap 183 for the 10 of Danica Patrick hitting Biffle and going through the grass.

Joey restarted P4 at lap 188, but again, there was no help in the draft for Logano to move up. Spotter Tab kept saying over the radio “Common 31, join the party” hoping that Joey could get a push, but it was not to be.

The end was almost a photo finish with Denny Hamlin besting Martin Truex Jr. by inches. Joey finished P6.

Next week’s race will be at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the downforce package trialed at Kentucky last year will be in effect. Joey finished P2 at Kentucky last year, so hopefully this set up will be better suited to him getting a win than the restrictor plate of Daytona.

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Image Courtesy: Nascar.com

Daytona Sprint Unlimited

February 13, 2016
“Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, let’s go racing boys!”

And with those famous words from Darrell Waltrip, the long dry spell of racing was over and the 2016 Sprint Cup season has begun. For us NASCAR fans, we’ve tried to fill the void with football (I live in Cincinnati – enough said…..). I even went so far as to buy an Xbox Forza for my husband for Christmas so we could at least pretend we were racing!

The Sprint Unlimited is like no other race NASCAR has all season. It doesn’t count for points. There are 25 entries made up of poll winners from last year, Chase participants from 2015, and if necessary, a few get in on points as well. The only place that counts in the winner, so it is basically a free-for-all of getting back in the saddle, getting the cobwebs worked out, and racing full out. Particularly for the “wreckers and checkers” crowd (of which I am NOT one) it is a great race to watch.

The positions for the race are drawn by crew chiefs. Todd Gordon needs a better rabbit’s foot, his draw put Joey at P25, the last in the field. The race itself was to be done in 2 segments, with a competition caution at lap 25, then 50 more laps to the finish.

Prior to the race, Fox Sports Race Hub asked the drivers to sum up the race in one word. Logano stated “Sh*t” then cracked up laughing with his trademark squint. He later added, “Nah, crazy”.

When the cars were on their opening practice rounds, Joey asked spotter Tab Boyer “How you feeling up there Tab?” Boyer responded “I’m ready”. Logano answered “Me, too – just thinking about how to move forward”. Crew Chief Todd Gordon got on the radio and told Tab he had a text message – glad to know the WiFi at Daytona is working!

Logano started to put that plan of moving forward in action with the drop of the green flag. By lap 13, Joey had moved up to P4, however the first caution of the night came out when the 17 of Stenhouse and 11 of Hamlin “traded paint”. Meanwhile, teammate Brad Keselowski was having his own issues with garbage totally blocking his grill and making his car steam. Joey stated on the radio that the front straightaway was covered in trash.

The green came back out at lap 17, but Logano got out of the line of cars and lost momentum and was down to P9 when the first big wreck of the night happened. The 14, being driven by Brian Vickers in place of Tony Stewart, slammed the wall and in the aftermath took along the 15, 41, 47, 16, 4 and 88 – all with varying degrees of damage. Pit road was opened up for the competition caution and Joey was the first car to take 4 tires, putting him at P10 for the restart at lap 30.

By lap 37, Logano had moved up to P2, with Brad P1. Joey and Hamlin (who came back out after some liberal application of Bear Bond) were swapping back and forth on P2, P3 when at lap 43, the 48 of Jimmie Johnson went through the grass, ripping off the entire nose of the vehicle. Joey was the first to pit, but others chose not to, putting Logano at P13 for the restart.

Another wreck and another caution came out a lap 53, when the 1 bumped the 5 into the 47, with Joey barely missing the carnage by going down to the apron. He was concerned that he scraped the car too much coming back onto the track, but spotter Tab stated it looked good.

The green came out again at lap 61 and Logano quickly moved to P4, when a caution came out for the 5 blowing an engine. Joey came over the radio and stated to spotter Tab “Tell Denny I will push him if he wants”. Logano was back up to P2 when the “bigger” big one happened, taking out the 41, 18, 2, 19, 43, and 13.

This led to the first use of the new “overtime” rule NASCAR had decided. Instead of the typical “green / white / checkered” restarts, now the leader must be past a certain point in the racetrack before a caution comes out to make the race final. At Daytona, this is about halfway around the track. Logano started P2, with Hamlin P1. They were almost even when a caution came out for the 78, but Hamlin was able to make it past that finish point and won the race.

At the end of the race, only the 22 of Joey Logano and the 42 of Kyle Larson had no damage from wrecks to their cars.

Nothing wrong with P2 finish – it has been since Dale Jarrett in 2000 that the winner of the Unlimited has gone on to win the 500. And Joey has a repeat of last year to do!

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Image Courtesy: Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel

Missy Strothers, Official Fan Reporter﻿​@missystrothers#22 Joey Logano

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Missy Strothers, Official Fan Reporter
@missystrothers

#22 Joey Logano