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[/media-credit]Post Race Highlights:
· Logano was third in the day’s only practice, but struggled in qualifying and started 14th for Friday evening’s event.
· Despite the 14th-place start, Logano moved his way into the top-10 by lap 50.
· The Dollar General pit crew had an amazing night in the pits. On their first stop on lap 70, Logano came into the pits 10th and left in sixth. On their second stop, Logano came in ninth and once again went out sixth.
· The No. 20 Dollar General Toyota was loose in, tight center and loose off all night long. Crew Chief Adam Steven made a number of changes and the car slowly got better, but the team could never find the handle they were looking for.
· A long green-flag run resulted in a unique strategy call for Logano and Stevens. As other drivers began pitting for the final time, Stevens made the call for Logano to stay out and stretch his fuel as long as possible, hoping to either make it to the end or catch a caution.
· The pit strategy allowed Logano to take the lead on lap 209. He held the top spot until lap 221 when he eventually had to come down pit road for the final time. During the final stop, Logano fell a lap off the pace and came back out in 18th.
· Unfortunately, over the final 20 laps, Logano couldn’t make up any more positions and came home with an 18th-place finish.
Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:
“That was a race that couldn’t end fast enough. We just struggled with the Dollar General Toyota all day long. We just couldn’t get the handle on it and even when we got it better, it just wasn’t strong enough to run up front. I were hoping to come out of here with a top-10 finish and the strategy just didn’t work out. We were looking good and stretching our fuel as long as we could and just hoping for a caution. Who would have thought that we would go 125 laps green here at Richmond? So the strategy didn’t work and we were so far off the pace compared to the guys with fresh tires that by the time we pitted, we had lost too much time and came out a lap down. All in all, it was just a frustrating night. We’ve really struggled with this particular chassis in the past so I told the guys not to bring it back to the track. We are going to put this one to rest and focus on going forward with some of our better cars at JGR. We’ll be back strong at Talladega I’m sure.”
Box Score Info:
RACE: The Virginia 529 College Savings 250
TRACK: Richmond Int’l Raceway
DRIVER: Joey Logano
CAR: No. 20 Dollar General Toyota
START: 14th
FINISH: 18th
LAPS: 249/250 (running)
LAPS LED: 13
