Joey Logano / No. 20 Home Depot Toyota NSCS Preview
AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
No. 20 Home Depot Toyota News & Notes:
· STILL LOOKING FOR THAT “WIN AND IN”: Despite coming home with a solid eighth-place finish and leading the most laps in last Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Joey Logano is still looking for his second win of the season to help propel him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. With the two “wild card” spots still up for grabs, Logano’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch holds the second and final spot into the playoffs. However, with Busch, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Marcos Ambrose and Logano each with one win this year, Joey still has a shot to get win number two and leap frog everyone else to grab the final wild card spot.
· BRISTOL REBOUND BIG FOR JOEY: When the checkers flew at Bristol Motor Speedway, Logano found himself crossing the finish line with an eighth-place finish and even led the event four different times for a race-high 139 laps. However, Logano found himself on the wrong side of some bad luck with restart after restart, taking the green from the bottom line when the preferred groove was the top lane. Logano lost multiple positions on the restarts just trying to work his way into line and to begin his drive back to the front. However, despite the bad luck, Logano’s top-10 finish (his first at Bristol), along with his NASCAR Nationwide Series victory on Friday night (his sixth Nationwide Series win of the year and his first at Bristol) give Joey some much needed momentum going into the final two races of NASCAR’s regular season before the Chase begins.
· MORE TESTING, MORE TRAVEL: Logano will be one of nine drivers scheduled to participate in a Goodyear tire test at Kansas Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday. The Kansas track was recently repaved following the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the year and several teams will be at the track. In addition to the tire test on Tuesday and Wednesday, Logano will fly straight from Kansas to San Antonio, TX where he will make a sponsorship appearance on Tuesday night before heading back to Kansas to participate in the second day of the test.
· BUSY ATLANTA WEEKEND: Even though Logano will be back to Sprint Cup Series action only, taking the weekend off from the Nationwide Series, the 22-year-old will still be plenty busy. Logano is participating in a number of events at the track for Coca-Cola, from ride-alongs to a Q&A and autograph appearances. Logano will also be making two public appearances on Sunday, first with a stop at the Sprint Experience on Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm followed by signing autographs at his merchandise trailer at 4:30pm.
· LOOKING FOR IMPROVEMENT: Despite running five races at the 1.5-mile speedway, Atlanta has not been one of Logano’s best tracks on the schedule. His best-career start at Atlanta came last season when he qualified 24th for the event. His best-career finish at Atlanta came in the second race at the track in his rookie season, when he finished 22nd. Logano has been running at the end of every race he’s competed in at Atlanta however.
· RACE INFO: The AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Hampton, GA; 1.5-mile oval) is set for Sunday, September 2nd at 6:30pm ET. The race will be broadcast on ESPN (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
24
1
2
8
1
190
$2,820,863
12.5
17.8
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
135
2
16
37
4
337
$17,081,733
17.6
18.9
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
5
0
0
0
0
0
$586,972
32.0
27.6
From the Cockpit:
Joey Logano Quotes: “In the past, Atlanta hasn’t really been one of my best tracks and I don’t know why. I don’t dislike the track and I think it’s a lot of fun to race on. Just in the past years, we haven’t really hit on the setup that we’ve needed and we’ve struggled in every race there. I am expecting that to change this year though. We’ve really improved on our cars and on our 1.5-mile program and I think that will help. We’ve run well at tracks like Charlotte and Texas and places that are somewhat similar to Atlanta, so I’m expecting a better weekend. Plus, our entire organization as a whole is bringing better stuff each week and our crew chiefs are really working well together.
“I’m still looking for that win though. We know that in these next two races, all we want to do is win. Early in the year, you want top-fives and top-10s. But there are a bunch of us now that a second place means nothing to us. We need to win to get us into the Chase. We had a car that was capable of winning last week and we just never got the track position or the proper line on the track. This weekend, we need to do everything we can to make our Home Depot Toyota get to Victory Lane on Sunday night.”
No. 20 Home Depot 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
