Joey Logano started fourth and finished fourth in the Subway Firecracker 250 presented by Coca-Cola on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. The fourth place finishing position was nowhere near indicative of how strong the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang performed throughout the 103 laps of competition as Logano would lead five times for a total of 46 laps. At the drop of green Logano wasted little time working from the fourth starting position to second on the opening lap, running there before taking the lead for the first time at lap 14. The early move to the front would prove critical as Logano narrowly missed the first big accident of the night on lap 16 as many of the top-10 competitors were collected on the backstretch. Logano would restart in second position after a brief red flag and regain the lead on lap 23. Logano would lead for 21 laps, the first of two times the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang would lead for over 20 consecutive circuits. In total, the event was slowed by caution eight times, including a record five cautions in the opening 50 laps. The abundance of yellow flags would create a variety of pit strategies as teams attempted to short pit and gain track position later in the event. At lap 68, the No. 22 Discount Tire Mustang pitted for the final time taking right side tires and fuel as the competitors who had pitted previously cycled to the lead. Logano would be forced to restart in the ninth position, but wasted little time racing back to the front of the pack, leading two additional times before being shuffled out of line and fighting back for the fourth place finish.

“We had such a fast Discount Tire Ford and it just goes to show with how many laps we led. Toward the end of the race we just made a bad call. Went to the top to block and the bottom was coming with momentum and I didn’t get there in time and we got shuffled down the middle and lost 10 or 15 spots. We recovered to finish third. We will take it. I am happy for Aric and glad a Ford won after all that. We worked really well together so it is cool to see someone you worked with win the race but I would much rather have this Ford in victory lane.”