Joey Logano started 10th and finished 27th on Sunday afternoon in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway. When the green flag fell, Logano worked forward, reaching the eighth position by Turn 2 before the caution flag was displayed for an incident on the opening lap. When green-flag action resumed, he reported the handling of the car as loose on corner entry but tight through the center of the turns. When crew chief Todd Gordon called the Shell-Pennzoil Ford to pit road for the first time at lap 17, the team adjusted with wedge and air pressure in attempt to give Logano both the entry security and the center turn he needed. The adjustments marginally improved the handling, but Logano was stuck battling dirty air until the conclusion of the first stage at lap 50, where he finished 11th. The next pit stop, Gordon would call for additional wedge and air pressure adjustments, however, an issue on the right front would slow the stop and cost valuable track position. The race would be slowed again by caution at lap 59, where Logano reported the handling to be better and the team pitted for fuel only. On the next run, Logano reported that the entry security was better, but the car was still tight in the center of the turn. The team continued to fight forward, but being out of position for stage points at the end of the second stage, Gordon called Logano to pit road at lap 97. The team would wrap up the stage in the 27th position but cycle forward after the leaders pitted at the caution. Running just outside the top-10, Logano reported his car was more competitive, and he consistently ran times comparable with the top-five. On lap 127, Logano pitted again under green, but was unfortunately deemed too fast entering pit road and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Further compounding the situation, the tires were flat spotted as he entered the pits for the penalty and required an additional pit stop, thus requiring an additional trip down pit road to serve the penalty. Logano would continue on and bring the Shell-Pennzoil Ford home in the 27th position.

“Unfortunately we had too many setbacks today. We had a car towards the middle part of the race that we could run in the top-10 with if we could get the track position and then a speeding penalty cost us the opportunity for that. We just have to execute together as a team and continue to fight on and we can win. We can’t get down on ourselves here, we have to keep looking ahead and trying to get ourselves into the playoffs.”