Joey Logano / No. 20 Dollar General Toyota NSCS Preview
Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway
No. 20 Dollar General Toyota News & Notes:
· SOMEONE LOVES KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY: When NASCAR fans in Kentucky and around the country think of Kentucky Speedway, one name normally pops into mind… Joey Logano. Logano’s history at the 1.5-mile track is impressive to say the least. Prior to last year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut event at Kentucky, the NASCAR Nationwide Series ruled the track and Logano ruled the Nationwide Series at Kentucky. In four career NNS starts there, Logano has raced his way to three poles, three victories and four top-10 finishes. The first victory back in 2008 put Logano on the map with both competitors and fans. Coming in just his third-career NNS start, Logano became the youngest NASCAR Nationwide Series winner ever at the age of 18 years and 21 days. Logano came back then and won the race again in 2009, leading just 20 laps and passing teammate Kyle Busch late. Then in 2010, he completed the trifecta, dominating the event by leading 106 laps en route to his third-straight victory. And the Nationwide Series isn’t the only series Logano has won in at Kentucky Speedway. Logano raced at the track back when he was just 12 years old in the Young Lions Nationals for Legends cars on the quarter-mile track that utilizes part of the infield and part of pit road. Despite never being at the track before, Logano won the event, becoming the youngest Young Lions Nationals winner ever. In last season’s Sprint Cup Series debut at Kentucky, Logano qualified 15th and finished 14th.
· MATCHING LAST YEAR’S NUMBERS ALREADY: With last weekend’s 10th-place finish at Sonoma, Logano has now scored six top-10 finishes in 2012, matching his full-season total from last year. Even more impressive is four of those top-10 finishes have come in the last six races, including a win at Pocono Raceway just a couple of weeks ago. Logano was running in the top-five at Michigan just two weeks ago before getting involved in an accident late. That top-10 finish would have given him seven and possibly put him in a position for one of the Wild Card spots. Logano has also led a total of 51 laps this season which is just seven laps shy of his career-high for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, which came last year.
· POINTS UPDATE – STILL IN THE HUNT: Looking at the point standings, Logano still finds himself in a prime position to capture one of the two “wild card” spots for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship and less than 50 points out of the top-10, which would give him an automatic berth. The top 10 drivers will make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and positions 11 and 12 are wild cards and will go to drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, as long as they are ranked in the top 20 in points. Logano is currently 15th in the point standings but third in the wild card standings as four drivers have earned one win that are ranked outside of the top-10. Logano is just 18 points behind JGR teammate Kyle Busch, who leads the Wild Card standings.
· A CRAZY “OFF” WEEKEND: This weekend, fans will see something that they are not accustomed to seeing and something Logano himself isn’t accustomed too. Logano will not race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event this weekend at Kentucky despite the series being at the track in conjunction with the Sprint Cup Series event. Logano has only missed one other companion event this year coming at Las Vegas. The missed event might be a blessing in disguise for the other drivers in the field. Logano has won five NASCAR Nationwide Series events this season and four of the last five he’s competed in. He has also won three of his four career starts at Kentucky in the Nationwide Series.
· THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 DOLLAR GENERAL TOYOTA: Dollar General vendor partners Kleenex, Gildan, Colgate, Slim Jim, Degree, Glad, Kraft Singles, Today and Always, STP and Mucinex will be featured on Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
· THE RACE: The Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway (Sparta, KY; 1.5-mile oval) is set for Saturday night, June 30 at 6:30 pm ET. The race will be broadcast on TNT (TV) and PRN (radio).
Logano’s 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
16
1
1
6
1
51
$1,963,783
12.3
16.8
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
127
2
15
35
4
198
$16,224,653
17.9
18.8
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats Kentucky Speedway:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
1
0
0
0
0
0
$86,600
15.0
14.0
From the Cockpit:
Joey Logano Quotes: “I’m really looking forward to Kentucky. I enjoy the track and I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of success there over the last couple of years in the Nationwide Series. It’s one of those places that you just take to. Ever since I ran my first Nationwide race there back in 2008, I’ve just had a pretty good knack for Kentucky. Then when the Sprint Cup Series finally came to the track last year, I thought we’d have a pretty good showing considering our track record there and we ran decent and finished in the top-15. But I’m really looking for bigger and better things this time around. The No. 20 Dollar General team has really been on our game the last few weeks and its showing on the track. Starting at Darlington, we’ve really picked up our performance and we’re starting to get the results all of these guys deserve. Now that we are finding ourselves running in the top-10, we need to keep working on it and make those top-10s top-fives. Once we do that, I think we will be a consistent force. I’m also really looking forward to having Dollar General back on board our car. We were able to get Home Depot a Cup win at Pocono and we’ve won three races with Dollar General in the Nationwide Series this year. Now, we just need to get Dollar General a win in the Cup Series. That would be huge for them and that would be huge for us in the point standings. We will just have to see what this weekend holds for us.”
No. 20 Dollar General Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing Team:
Driver – Joey Logano Crew Chief – Jason Ratcliff Car Chief – Jason Shapiro Race Engineer – Jacob Canter Engineer – Mike Lorusso Spotter – Rocky Ryan
Shock Specialist – Dusty Boyd Mechanic – Scott Geerts Mechanic – Todd Foster Mechanic – Leo Thorsen Tire Specialist – Jerold Shires Engine Tuner – Mike Johnson
Tires – Bill Byrne Truck Driver – Thomas “Thumper” McCrimmon Truck Driver – Scott “Scooter” Crowell
Jackman – Jason Tate Gasman – John Eicher Front Tire Changer – John Royer Front Tire Carrier – Joe Crossen
Rear Tire Changer – Chris Taylor Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen
About Dollar General:
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 70 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations.
Dollar General is committed to the communities it serves and is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations that help individuals learn to read, prepare for their GED or learn to speak English.
Find the Dollar General store nearest you or learn more about the company at www.dollargeneral.com or on Dollar General’s Facebook page.
DG at the Track:
Dollar General has more retail locations than any retailer in America, with 10,000 stores in 39 states. There are numerous Dollar General locations in the state of Kentucky. The 12 locations nearest to Kentucky Speedway are below:
Dollar General #3129 Dollar General #253 Dollar General #8986
616 E Main St. 318 N Main St. 951 W Main St.
Warsaw, KY 41095 Owenton, KY 40359 Vevay, IN 47043
Dollar General #23 Dollar General #356 Dollar General #6933
2074 US Hwy 227 68 Warsaw Ave. 395 Violet Rd.
Carrollton, KY 41008 Dry Ridge, KY 41035 Crittenden, KY 41030
Dollar General #4825 Dollar General #11790 Dollar General #12989
135 Brookwood Dr. 8827 Main St. 10247 Dixie Hwy.
Walton, KY 41094 Campbellsburg, KY 40011 Florence, KY 41042
Dollar General #4732 Dollar General #10417 Dollar General #11870
19 Fairground Rd. 5056 Madison Pike 880 Pendleton Rd.
Bedford, KY 40006 Independence, KY 41051 Pendleton, KY 40055
