Team Penske NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Report
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race: Lilly Diabetes 250
Date: July 22, 2017
No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Joey Logano
Start: 12th
Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 100/100
Laps Led: 0
Owner’s Points Position (ahead of second): 1st (+103)
Recap: Joey Logano started 12th and finished third in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang on Saturday afternoon in the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When the race began, Logano reported that the handling of the Discount Tire Mustang was good everywhere except turn 1 where it lacked grip, and that he needed more speed on the long straights to contend with the race leaders. On the first pit stop of the race at lap 16, crew chief Greg Erwin called for air pressure and track bar adjustments, along with four fresh Goodyear tires. On the ensuing restart, Logano showed his veteran mastery of the practice, as he passed 11 cars in the opening lap, climbing his way from 14th to third before reaching the yard of bricks. The team ended the first stage in the third position before pitting for a two-tire stop with minor air pressure adjustments. The quick work by the pit crew, who will also be pitting Logano’s Shell-Pennzoil Ford in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 gained the driver a position leaving pit road. On the start, Logano was able to use a push from fellow Ford Performance driver Cole Custer and momentarily lay claim to the lead. However, a surging Kyle Busch would reclaim the top spot at the entry to turn 3. Logano continued to run in the top-five for the remainder of the event, with the exception of a green flag pit cycle near the end of stage 2 which would ultimately be disrupted due to an ill-timed caution. Nevertheless, when the final stage began, Logano restarted in the third position and never ran lower than fifth for the final 30 laps. With the third place finish, Logano secured the 13th top-five result for the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series season, helping the team build on their lead in the Owners Championship standings, which now stands at 103 points over second place.
Quote: “I was a distant third. I was kind of in the hunt there with the 9, but just didn’t have a fast enough car to hang with him. The handling kind of fell off there at the end as well. It’s interesting because you can trim it out and try to go fast and then handling comes into play, but it seemed like the 9 had a little bit of both. I really think the Gibbs cars were the two fastest cars and probably should have won the race today, so we executed well and made the best out of our car.”
