Joey Logano No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry
Phoenix 500 at Phoenix International Raceway
The Home Depot Team Notes of Interest
· The Home Depot Team remains out west this weekend for the Phoenix 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Joey Logano will be making his sixth start behind the wheel of No. 20 Toyota Camry on the newly configured track. His best finish at the one-mile track came last fall when he started from the 10th position and finished third. In February, Logano was running in the top five when the engine went down a cylinder and eventually expired on lap 213 of the 312-lap race.
· Logano and the No. 20 Home Depot Team are participating in the two-day Goodyear Tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week prior to heading to Phoenix International Raceway for this weekend’s 500-mile event. The team tested on Monday and will be back on the track on Wednesday.
· The roof of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry is sporting a white ‘cap’ this week in support of Coca-Cola’s Arctic Home initiative. As part of this program, for the first time, Coca-Cola will be turning its red cans white to call attention to the plight of the much loved polar bear. Together, Coca-Cola is asking consumers to join the effort by texting or making a donation online with a package code. Coca-Cola will match each text up to $1 million. To make a donation, consumers can text the package code to 357357 or enter it online at ArcticHome.com. Each text will trigger an individual donation of $1 to WWF’s efforts to help protect the polar bears home.
· About the last race: Logano and the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Team battled handling issues throughout the AAA Texas 500 race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The issues persisted through Sunday’s 500-mile race but it was an engine failure that ultimately sealed the fate of Logano and the Home Depot Team as they left Texas with a 37th-place finish.
· Don’t look for Logano in the No. 20 car on Saturday; he will be behind the wheel of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race to help the organization secure the owner’s championship. Logano has five starts at Phoenix in the Nationwide Series and has yet to finish outside the top 10.
· Logano has 12 top-10 starting spots this season including two pole positions at Infineon Raceway and Pocono Raceway. Logano scored one pole last year, but had just nine top-10 starts to his credit. In his rookie campaign he lined up inside the top 10 on seven occasions.
· Crew chief Greg Zipadelli and the No. 20 Home Depot Team are bringing chassis #323 this weekend with just two races remaining on the 2011 schedule. Logano drove this chassis at Chicagoland September where he qualified in the top 10 and finished 16th in the fuel-mileage race and most recently to a 12th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The back-up chassis is #319 which most recently raced at Dover on Oct. 2. Logano first ran this chassis at Pocono where he captured the pole and ran in the top 10 most of the day before a cut tire with 12 laps to go dropped him to 26th place.
· Logano sits 24th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver point standings following the engine failure at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend.
· To access information on The Home Depot Team visit: www.joegibbsracing.com and follow twitter.com/jlogano, twitter.com/homedepotracing and twitter.com/joegibbsracing.
Logano Phoenix Quotes:
“The test at Phoenix went okay a few weeks ago, but there was only one racing groove. I think they were going to get some of the RPDE (Richard Petty Driving Experience) cars out there to try and rubber up the track and work in a second groove. So I’m not really sure what to expect this weekend. The biggest thing you could feel different was the speed you carry down the back straight-away. The track really opens up coming off turn 2 and you carry a ton of speed off the corner. The other corner and the front stretch feel the same. I think it will be a challenge for everyone this weekend.”
No. 20 Home Depot Team
Primary Team Members:
Crew Chief – Greg Zipadelli Car Chief – Jason Shapiro Engine Builder – Mark Cronquist
Lead Engineer – Jacob Canter Engine Specialist – Michael Johnson Spotter – Mark Robertson
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:
Jackman – Jason Tate Front Tire Changer – John Royer Front Tire Carrier – Brett Morrell
Gas Man – John Eicher Rear Tire Changer – Coleman Dallarhide Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen
Other Crew Members:
Truck Drivers – Tom McCrimmon, Scott Crowell Tire Specialist – Jerold Shires Shock Specialist – Dusty Boyd
Mechanics – Scott Geerts, Todd Foster Pit Support – Bill Byrne IT Support – Nathan Boone
Second Engineer – Mike Lorusso
