LAS VEGAS, NV – February 24, 2020 – Joey Logano and Matt DiBenedetto led Ford Performance to a 1-2 finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Pennzoil 400. Logano piloted the Team Penske Pennzoil Mustang to Ford’s first win of 2020 while winning his 24th NASCAR Cup Series career race.
“Congratulations to Joey, Paul, Roger, and the No. 22 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “It was great to see these Ford Mustangs run so strong. Our guys drove a great race and happy to see Joey and Paul get their first win of the season. We {Roush Yates Engines} are proud to be part of the Ford Performance team and power these fast Ford Mustangs.”
After a late race caution, at lap 262, Logano missed the call to pit, which placed him in the lead for the restart and a two-lap shoot out. As they came to green, Logano received a big push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which pushed him to the lead. With the clean air, he was able to separate himself from the rest of the pack and take the white flag before another caution came out on the last lap, securing Logano back-to-back wins in Las Vegas with Ford Performance.
Logano commented in Victory Lane, “There was a little confusion, but it worked out really well. A lot of cars stayed out and that was key to that move. Winning the Pennzoil 400 with the Pennzoil car, this is huge. It means a lot to be able to do this two-years in a row winning this race. I’m proud of the effort everybody here behind me did today. They prepared a great car and executed the race perfectly and that’s what we wanted. We fought hard and tried to keep every spot we possibly could and then ultimately, oh man, being able to pull it into Victory Lane here.”
Ford has won four out of the last five races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Kevin Harvick (2018), Brad Keselowski (2018) and Logano (2019).
The Ford teams led a combined 165 laps out of the 267-lap race with a race high by Harvick of 92 followed by race winner, Logano with 54 and Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney with 19.
DiBenedetto drove the No. 21 Ford Mustang to a second-place finish with Wood Brothers Racing while Keselowski finished P7 and Harvick P8.
Ford also went 1-2 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Sunday. Chase Briscoe from Stewart-Haas Racing crossed the finish line first, leading 89 laps out of the 200-lap race, to win his third career NXS race while Austin Cindric from Team Penske came in second, leading a total of 39 laps.
“It’s nice to get a win early,” Briscoe commented in Victory Lane. “Obviously, we were hoping that we could get a win at some point in the year – we expected to – but to get it in our Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang before Phoenix is definitely nice just because we can go there and kind of try some stuff because I feel like that’s one place I need to get way better at. That being said, it’s nice to take the point lead. It doesn’t mean as much this early in the season, but it’s a good confidence booster and it goes a long way when you’re in that first garage stall with your guys.”
The Ford teams will take this momentum to Fontana, CA and the Auto Club Speedway later this week. Reference the full 2020 schedule on Roushyates.com.
27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 381 WINS – 356 POLES!
About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.
Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and twin-turbo EcoBoost Ford V6 race engine that powers the Ford Mustang GT4 in the IMSA series.
With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.
3 Series – 22 Teams – 81 Races
