No. 20 GameStop Toyota News, Notes & Paint Scheme:
· No. 20 IN AN IMPORTANT POINTS BATTLE: While the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver’s championship has already been decided, and the owner’s points battle is still being contested between the No. 18 and the No. 22 cars, Logano and the GameStop team are in a points battle of their own. All season long, the No. 20 Toyota has been in a battle with the No. 33 of Kevin Harvick Inc. for the third-place points position in the owner’s standings. With two races remaining, Logano and the GameStop team are just 67 points behind the No. 33 for the third position. Logano closed the gap considerably last weekend with his fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
· PDP & AFTERGLOW IN “CONTROL” OF THE No. 20 IN PHOENIX: Each and every week, the No. 20 GameStop Toyota carries a special look, most of the time featuring looks of the hottest games on the market. This week, the No. 20 will have a special “glow” to it. Performance Designed Products (PDP) and its AFTERGLOW™ line of gaming system controllers will adorn the No. 20 GameStop Toyota at Phoenix International Raceway. PDP’s AFTERGLOW™ line of controllers features an array of LED lights that shine through the clear casing and can be turned on and off, or set to light up when the controller vibrates. PDP’s AFTERGLOW™ line includes controllers for the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. PDP’s AFTERGLOW™ product line has met with critical acclaim since the products’ launch in May of 2010.
· APRIL REDEMPTION ON LOGANO’S MIND: Phoenix International Raceway hasn’t been a bad track for Logano statistically. The 20-year-old had recorded top-10 finishes in all three of his previous starts at the one-mile oval, including a fourth-place run in the spring race of 2009. However, it’s the race in April of this season that stands out the most in his mind. Logano found himself in the lead with just 10 laps to go in the spring race at Phoenix. However, contact on pit road with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch caused damage to Logano’s No. 20 Toyota and resulted in Logano falling from first to an eventual 10th-place finish over the race’s final laps.
· STAT OF THE WEEK: 50%. Logano is now batting .500 when it comes to his NASCAR Nationwide Series career and top-five finishes. With his fourth-place run at Texas Motor Speedway, Logano now has 32-career top-five finishes in 64 Nationwide Series starts dating back to his first start in 2008. Therefore, one out of every two races that Logano has entered in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, he has found himself finishing in the top five.
· FEATURED ON THE No. 20: GameStop #4977 in Rosemont, IL will be the featured store on the lower rear quarter panel of the No. 20 GameStop Toyota this weekend in Phoenix.
Logano’s Season-To-Date NASCAR Nationwide Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
23
2
14
22
6
575
$868,750
5.2
4.9
Logano’s Career NASCAR Nationwide Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
64
8
32
52
13
1307
$2,465,729
7.4
7.1
Logano’s Career NASCAR Nationwide Series Stats at Phoenix International Raceway:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
3
0
1
3
0
21
$81,868
7.7
8
Joey Logano Quotes:
“I’m ready for Phoenix considering the wave of momentum my Joe Gibbs Racing teams have been on in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series. It’s not like I think I’ve really changed anything in my driving style, but things are just clicking right now in both series and that builds your confidence and makes you go out there and think that you can win every race you enter. And the confidence I’ve gotten from running good in the Sprint Cup Series is definitely coming over to the Nationwide side when I get in the GameStop Toyota. I know that we can win the race every time we unload the car. We just need to put together a perfect weekend, and we’ll get it.
“Phoenix is a cool track, because it is unlike anywhere else we go the rest of the year. It’s flat and a mile long, a little like New Hampshire, but the dogleg in the backstretch really makes it unique. It’s not what you would call a cookie-cutter racetrack, and that always makes going there a lot of fun. I’ve had a decent amount of success there, but not until this year did I say I felt like I could win a race there. I thought we had a good shot back in April until we got together with Kyle in the pits. Now, I want to go back and finish what we were 10 laps away from.
“I got a chance to see what the car is going to look like in Phoenix, and it’s crazy looking. It’s got a big controller on the hood and has some really cool colors to it. I always like racing some of these cars that look totally different. That is one of the best things about GameStop. You never know what is going to come out of the trailer until you see if for the first time. I think a lot of the other teams look forward to seeing what our cars look like ever week as well.”
Kevin Kidd Quotes:
“Like Joey told me earlier this week, we’ve got some unfinished business at Phoenix, and we plan on going there and trying to get the win this weekend. It’s always a little tough to swallow not winning a race when you are leading with less than 10 laps to go like we were in April. But we have to put that behind us and just use that at motivation to get the GameStop Toyota up to the front.
“We’re taking a different car this time then we ran at Phoenix earlier this year, but it’s a car that we’ve run several times before and had success with it. It’s been our Loudon car the last couple of years. We won a pole with it last year and led laps both times we’ve had it there. Joey also ran it at Phoenix last year and started second and finished fourth, so it’s a good car. We know we can take some of our notes from those New Hampshire races and the past Phoenix races and try and put this car back into Victory Lane. We’ve got a points battle to look out for and the best way to make up points is to finish ahead of everyone else.”
No. 20 GameStop Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing Team
Crew Chief – Kevin Kidd Car Chief – Tony Hamm Engine Builder – Mark Cronquist
Lead Engineer – Mike Lorusso Engine Specialist – Dan Bajek Spotter – Mark Robertson
Jackman – TJ Ford Front Tire Changer – Nick Krizmanich Front Tire Carrier – Kyle Coolidge
Gas Man – Chris Webb Rear Tire Changer – Chris McMullen Rear Tire Carrier – Matt Tyrell
Catch Can – Brian Larson Tire Specialist – Ryan Martin Shock Specialist – Joel Weidman
Mechanics – Matt Aschbrenner & Ben Chase Truck Driver – Charles Sampson & Ashley Brotherton
