· Joey Logano started Saturday’s Quaker State 400 from the 11th position in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang, ultimately bringing home a seventh-place result after leading late before an untimely caution flag.

· On the initial start, Logano dropped from his 11th starting position to the 13th spot, reporting the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang was too tight on fire off. By lap 10, Logano reported the handling was good as he’d worked his way back into the top 10, running lap times on par or faster than the race leader. With a two-tire stop at lap 48, Logano would restart sixth for the second half of the first stage, through quick work, Logano moved to fourth for another quick restart and then into second place on an ensuing restart. With 13 laps remaining in Stage 1, Logano would restart second along side race leader Kurt Busch, but be forced to settle for the second position at the end of the second stage.

· Under the stage ending caution at lap 82, Logano and the Shell-Pennzoil crew elected to pit for four tires and fuel, while seven cars remained on track and others pitting for two tires, it would line Logano up in the 15th position, the deepest track position of the night to that point. Logano would work his way forward to the top 10 but was forced to make a four-tire stop under the green flag at lap 120 for a vibration, which ended up being a chunked right rear tire.

· Logano would use the four tires to rally back to the fourth position, a net gain on the stop and ensuing run to the end of the second stage. Under the caution, Logano reported he needed the front of the Shell-Pennzoil Ford to turn better, but with the track losing grip, he couldn’t afford to be any freer in the rear of the car. On the stage ending stop, the team would adjust with air pressure and four tires.

· Logano would continue to race forward, reaching the second position before pitting at lap 226 for a two-tire stop along with race leader Kyle Busch. Logano and Busch would leave pit road separated by only three car lengths.

· After battling door-to-door with the No. 18, Logano was able to secure the lead with 19 laps remaining. Logano drove out to an over two-second lead before a caution with six laps to go brought out the yellow flag. Crew chief Todd Gordon would elect to leave Logano on the track as his lap times had remained at the top of the field.

· On the ensuing restart, Logano found himself shuffled to the middle lane as other competitors with fresher tires raced around, ultimately yielding a seventh-place finish for the Shell-Pennzoil team.

 

“The caution came out at the wrong time. It happens. You try to think through your notebook on how to have a good restart. I thought I was going to have a decent one, but I got stopped on the left rear there when Kyle (Busch) got into me. That is what it is. That stopped all my momentum. The 1 had a huge run and I didn’t have anywhere to go. I couldn’t block them all. I tried to stop the 18 on his right rear by side-drafting. I saw the 1 coming and felt like if I could get in front of him that we were so low at the time if I blocked the 1 he would just go to the middle and pass me. I felt like I couldn’t stop the 1. I was in a bad spot. Once I got stopped on the left rear on the restart I was a sitting duck and they just went by me on both sides.”