Logano Puts on Monstrous Nationwide Show; Stenhouse Jr. Wrecks Out of Points Lead

[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Joey Logano put a whipping on the Monster Mile, dominating most of the race and leading laps to score his first Nationwide win ever at the Dover track, as well as the coveted Miles the Monster trophy.

Although strong throughout much of the race, Logano pitted under caution and had to battle back against teammate Ryan Truex in the last twenty laps to score the checkered flag.

“I was frustrated as soon as the caution came out and we lost our track position,” Logano said. “Once we got to second and he (Truex) got caught in lapped traffic, I was able to pass cars, take the lead and get the win.”

“When you lead it, think you gave it away, and then get the win, it’s good.”

“It’s been four or five years and I have never gotten a win here,” Logano said. “It’s the coolest trophy you can win. It’s awesome to finally get it.”

The driver of the No. 18 Dollar General Toyota led the parade of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers with teammates Ryan Truex and Brian Scott in second and third respectively.

Although Truex gave a very gutsy performance to finish second, especially after just having had surgery for appendicitis, he was not a happy camper.

He was particularly upset with lapped traffic, which slowed his run and allowed Logano to pass him.

“I’m not happy,” the driver of the No. 20 Grime Boss Toyota said. “It’s second and I’m not happy with it.”

“We had a winning car,” Truex said. “I hate to blame it on someone else, but it’s just stupid.”

“I probably could have picked a better lane around them,” Truex said of the lapped traffic. “It’s just frustrating.”

“I wish I could have got a win,” Truex said. “It was too close to come in second.”

As unhappy as Truex was, the third member of the Joe Gibbs Racing triumvirate, Brian Scott was most pleased with his third place finish. Scott did admit, however, that he probably could learn some lessons from his younger teammates.

“We had a really good Dollar General Toyota all day,” Scott said. “This one’s for JGR with a one, two, three finish.”

“It’s fun to be up there and racing our teammates for the win,” Scott continued. “I’m a young kid myself at 24, but Ryan and Joey, who are younger than me, can show me a few things.”

“Really happy to bring back a top-5 finish after all we’ve been through this year,” Scott said. “Hopefully, it’s a huge confidence booster for the team.”

Kurt Busch, in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports, finished fourth and Justin Allgaier, in the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet, rounded out the top five. These two drivers, however, were none too happy with one other, having some words after the race on pit road.

“We just agreed to disagree on a few things at the race track,” Allgaier said of the incident with Busch. “Great day for the Brandt Chevrolet.”

“Glad we finished in the top-five; that was the first one for us this season,” Allgaier continued. “It was definitely a good day.”

Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 American Ethanol/New Holland Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie, scoring the sixth spot.

“It was a good run,” Dillon said. “We made sure our car was good for the race and it was.”

“It was just way too tight in traffic,” Dillon continued. “We didn’t have the car to get up there like Joey did.”

Troubles abounded, however, for points leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. when he lost control of the No. 6 Cargill Beef Ford Mustang and hit the wall hard on lap 27. The young driver took full responsibility for the wreck.

“I just lost it,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I wasn’t up on the wheel and just kind of riding around until that competition caution and just got behind on the steering.”

“It was driver error, totally my fault,” Stenhouse continued. “We will have to go back take a weekend off and get ‘em at Michigan.”

Stenhouse, Jr. was able to get back out onto the track but his car looked more like a modified car than a Nationwide car. He finished a disappointing 32^nd and fell to second in the point standings, twelve behind Elliott Sadler.

Yet in spite of being the new points leader, Elliott Sadler was also not amongst the happy camper drivers as far as his finish.

“Our run today was not what we were looking for,” Sadler said. “To finish seventh is kind of disappointing.”

“We had to fight back from a lucky dog but definitely not the day we wanted at Dover,” Sadler said. “We have homework to do before we come back in the fall.”

“We are the points leader and we’re very happy to be back in the points race,” Sadler continued. “But we know as a team that the 6 car is going to run good every week and is not going to have problems every week.”

“But it does feel good to be back in the middle of this thing,” Sadler said. “As a team, we just have to keep fighting and keep improving.”