Joey Logano / No. 20 Dollar General Toyota NSCS Preview
IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway
No. 20 Dollar General Toyota News & Notes:
· DOUBLE DOLLAR GENERAL ON THE HIGH BANKS: As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series return to companion events this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, fans will see a lot of black and yellow cars streaking around the famous half-mile oval. Joey Logano will return to the wheel of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota this Saturday night in the Sprint Cup Series event at Bristol and will double up by also competing with a Dollar General Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Bristol on Friday night. In fact, it will be the first time all year long that Logano has ran the Dollar General colors in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series on the same weekend. Logano has found some success with Dollar General this season, picking up three wins for the sponsor in the Nationwide Series.
· JUST WIN BABY WIN… AGAIN: Logano went into last weekend’s Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway with some high hopes. And after finding himself third in Saturday’s “happy hour” practice and in the top-10 just two laps into the race on Sunday, things were looking good. However, a loose car and a tap from behind by another driver sent Logano into the wall and his hopes of picking up win number two this season down the drain. So this weekend, with just three races remaining before the start of the Chase, Logano will have another chance to grab an elusive win and get himself locked into the 10-race Sprint Cup Series Championship “playoff.”
· BRISTOL THE SIGHT OF ANOTHER RECORD HELD BY JOEY: While Logano’s career stats at Bristol show zero wins and zero top-fives, it’s a track that the 22-year-old enjoys and normally runs well at. It also holds a special place in Logano’s career-highlights resume. Logano won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway in the spring 2010 race and, in the process, became the youngest driver to ever win a Sprint Cup Series pole at 19 years, nine months and 23 days, eclipsing the previous record that was held by JGR teammate Kyle Busch. In fact, of all the tracks on the Sprint Cup Series schedule, Bristol is his best at average starting position. Logano has qualified first, third, eighth and ninth (twice) over the course of his career at Bristol. His career-best finish is a 13th, which came in the fall race last season.
· SECOND VISITS ARE IMPORTANT TO LOGANO & RATCLIFF: While Jason Ractliff’s resume is quite stout, especially when it comes to accolades in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the crew chief still remains a “rookie” when it comes to the Sprint Cup Series. As the season began, Ratcliff and Logano had to rely on past notes to get a baseline for the cars heading into tracks for the first time working as a pair. However now as the season wears on, Logano and Ratcliff can now start looking at their own notes, formulated while working together, to get their No. 20 Dollar General Toyota even better. Not counting Daytona, Bristol will be just the third race where the two will now visit a track for a second time. Already, Logano and Ratcliff were able to go off of old notes learned together at Pocono and Michigan, both of which proved beneficial.
· THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 DOLLAR GENERAL TOYOTA: Dollar General vendor partners Glad, First Quality, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Angel Soft, Arrid, Powerade, Reach and Gillette will be featured on Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· THE RACE: The IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, TN; .533-mile oval) is set for Saturday, August 25th. Watch and listen live on ABC, Sirius XM Channel 90 and PRN Radio starting at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Logano’s 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
22
1
2
7
1
51
$2,690,423
12.9
18.2
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
134
2
16
36
4
198
$16,951,293
17.7
19.0
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats Bristol Motor Speedway:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
7
0
0
0
1
4
$832,227
10.1
24.1
From the Cockpit:
Joey Logano Quotes: “There are a lot of unknowns going back to Bristol this weekend. With the changes they made to the track, I don’t think anyone really knows what it will hold. A lot of us have talked to some of the guys that went and tested there and they said there is no upper groove anymore, which should make for a different type of race. Bristol had gotten to the point to where you could race two- and even three-wide and have a good race and not touch the car outside of inside of you. Now, with the changes, it will be interesting to see how the race plays out. I don’t think we are really going to know until we see the Truck and Nationwide races there this weekend. You really won’t even be able to tell much in practice. So I think fans will see a different race for sure.
“I’m pretty excited about going back to Bristol and be in the Dollar General Toyota on both Friday night and Saturday night. And I’m looking forward to going back because a lot like Pocono to some extent and Michigan, we will be going back and Jason (Ratcliff) has a full race weekend of his own notes and thoughts to go off of. That is always helpful when a crew chief has his own ideas to go off of rather than just old race notes. I feel like that will allow us a better starting spot before we even get to the track and to work from there. I’m really looking forward to going back to some of these tracks for a second time this year and seeing what kind of improvements we can make from the start of the season.”
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 8 Dollar General locations near Bristol Motor Speedway.
Dollar General #21 Dollar General #2464 Dollar General #11858
1315 Euclid Ave. Ste. E20 1109 Bluff City Hwy. 1498 Highway 126
Bristol, VA 24201 Bristol, TN 37620 Bristol, TN 37620
Dollar General #3530 Dollar General #3504 Dollar General #11276
3325 Lee Hwy. Ste. B 1990 Highway 394 Ste. F 233 Highway 19 E
Bristol, VA 24202 Blountville, TN 37617 Bluff City, TN 37618
Dollar General #13416 Dollar General #3577
15715 Porterfield Hwy. 574 E Cummings St.
Abingdon, VA 24210 Abingdon, VA 24210
