Logano Earns Top-20 Finish in Coke Zero 400, Moves to 20th in Standings
Fireworks lit up the skies over Daytona International Speedway on the Fourth of July after the checkered flag waved on Saturday night. Joey Logano and the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota had run a clean race before getting caught up in a last lap melee coming to the stripe for the final time. Despite the wreck, he was scored in the 19th position.
“I was running laps and learning a lot about the draft at Daytona,” said Logano. “We avoided quite a few wrecks today in the Home Depot Toyota, and tuned on it to get it more consistent. Then at the end the leader started spinning and there were cars everywhere. It was a big hit I can tell you that, I am just glad everyone is ok.”
The unpredictable Florida weather cancelled qualifying on Friday as pop up rain showers soaked the 2.5-mile superspeedway. The 43-car field lined up by the current NASCAR Sprint Cup standings for the Coke Zero 400, putting Logano 21st on the starting grid. He drafted his way up into the top 15 where he remained for the majority of the race. At the start of the 160-lap event, he told crew chief Greg Zipadelli the car was tight through the center and on exit. The Home Depot crew made air pressure adjustments and chassis adjustments to free up the car. On lap 32, Logano radioed to say they had gone too far and now the No.20 Toyota was too loose.
Logano narrowly escaped the first of two multi-car incidents on lap 77. By lap 90, the front runners were single file with Logano running in ninth. When the caution waved again on lap 101, Logano asked Zipadelli to tighten The Home Depot Toyota up more. He continued to run in the top 10 through the caution on lap 120. He told the team the car was much better and he could run the top line around the track but was a little tight on the bottom.
Logano continued to search for preferred lines on the track as the night went on. He dropped back to 17th on lap 140 before the caution flag waved on lap 145 for debris. Still battling a loose Toyota, The Home Depot Team made final adjustments on the car before sending Logano back onto the track for the restart on lap 149. For the second time, Logano used evasive maneuvers to avoid the wrecking car of fellow rookie driver Scott Speed. He was sitting 15th on the final restart on lap 156. As the field was coming off the final turn on the last lap, the leader was spun and a resulting superspeedway “big one” resulted. Logano tried to avoid the wrecking cars but the blocked track made it impossible. He crossed the line in 19th position. He took the mandatory trip to the infield care center where he was immediately checked and released.
The top 20 finish was redemption for the team following its 43rd-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Logano also moved up one spot in the Sprint Cup standings by passing Dale Earnhardt Jr. and now sits 20th, just 16 points out of 19th. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished third and 14th respectively.
The Home Depot Team heads to the Windy City next weekend for the 19th race of the 2009 season. The race from Chicagoland Speedway will be aired live on TNT Television on July 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will also be broadcast on MRN radio.
