Joey Logano / No. 20 Dollar General Toyota NSCS Preview
Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway
No. 20 Dollar General Toyota News & Notes:
· ANOTHER TOP-10 FINISH IN THE CHASE: Last weekend, Joey Logano finished ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The result marked Logano’s fourth top-10 finish in the first five Chase races in the 2012 season. Logano has now grabbed top-10 finishes in five of his last eight Sprint Cup Series races dating back to Bristol Motor Speedway, where Logano led 139 laps and finished eighth.
· PENULTIMATE DOLLAR GENERAL WEEKEND: The black and yellow colors of Dollar General return to the side of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend in Kansas Speedway, the next to last race with the DG colors on the car this season. It’s been a successful year with Dollar General as a sponsor with Joe Gibbs Racing and Logano. The 22-year-old has captured four wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series flying the black and yellow DG colors. On the Cup side, Logano has grabbed one top-five and four top-10 finishes while driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota. Dollar General will race with Logano in Kansas this weekend and then will make their final appearance of the season in the next to last race of the year, coming in just a few weeks at Phoenix International Raceway.
· TESTING COULD HELP KANSAS STATS: With the recent repave at Kansas Speedway, Logano hopes the extra track time with Wednesday’s and Thursday’s testing will help his Kansas stat line. The 1.5-mile oval hasn’t been the kindest to Logano over the years. In six-career starts at the track, Logano has yet to record a top-10 finish. His best-ever result came in the spring race earlier this year at the track when he came home with a 15th-place finish. Qualifying has not been an issue as much for Logano at Kansas. In his six-career starts at the track, he has qualified in the top-five on three different occasions, including a third-place qualifying effort in the spring race earlier this year. He also has starts of fourth and fifth at the track. And not only will Logano have two days of testing on Wednesday and Thursday to help him out before the race weekend, but he also was one of a handful of drivers that participated in the Goodyear tire test at Kansas a couple of months ago.
· CAREER BEST IN ONE CATEGORY: One thing Logano has worked hard to improve on in 2012 has been his qualifying effort. And a quick look at Logano’s career stats will show that the hard work has paid off. This season, Logano is averaging a 12.4 starting position in the first 31 races. Of those 31 starts, Logano has started in the top-10 a total of 13 times. He has one pole, coming in the June race at Pocono Raceway. Logano’s previous best qualifying season-average was 16.2, coming in 2010.
· THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 DOLLAR GENERAL TOYOTA: Dollar General vendor partners Tylenol, Powerade, Glad, First Quality, Pop-Tarts, Quilted Northern Ultra Plush, Arm & Hammer and Gillette Venus will be featured on Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry this weekend at Kansas Speedway.
· THE RACE: The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (Kansas City, KS; 1.5 -mile oval) is set for Sunday, October 21. Watch and listen live on ESPN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio starting at 1:00 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
31
1
2
12
1
190
$3,507,833
12.4
17.4
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
142
2
16
41
4
337
$17,768,703
17.3
18.7
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats Kansas Speedway:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
6
0
0
0
0
0
$618,326
13.0
25.2
From the Cockpit:
Joey Logano Quotes: “I feel like we are really running pretty good right now and I feel like we can keep that up heading into Kansas. We have finished in the top-10 in every race in the Chase so far other than Talladega and I think had we not got caught up in that first wreck we would have been able to finish in the top-10 that day too. I think we should be riding a streak of five-straight top-10s right about now. Now, as a team we need to take the next step and take those top-10s and turn them into top-fives. I think we can do that this weekend in Kansas for sure.
“We have seemed to really benefit this year when we have had a couple of extra days worth of practice. In Pocono, we were able to grab the pole and win. At Michigan, we were fast but we got wrecked by someone during the race while running in the top-10. So I am kind of expecting the same things this weekend. We have a lot of practice on the new pavement on Wednesday and Thursday and we even have some extra time on Thursday with the Nationwide cars. I even got a chance to do the tire test here a few weeks ago, so I think by the time the race comes around, I will almost have as many laps on this new surface as I did on the old one.”
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 has awarded more than $74 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 4.4 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. To learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, visit www.dgliteracy.org
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 40 states. Here are the 11 locations nearest to Kansas Speedway:
Dollar General #5735 Dollar General #13541 Dollar General #13010
3716 State Ave. 2272 Quindaro 2018 Metropolitan Ave.
Kansas City, KS 66102 Kansas City, KS 66104 Kansas City, KS 66106
Dollar General #2493 Dollar General #7478 Dollar General #12098
201 Armour Rd 2852 W 47th Ave. 6028 Leavenworth Rd.
North Kansas City, MO 64116 Kansas City, KS 66103 Kansas City, KS 66104
Dollar General #1603 Dollar General #13666 Dollar General #13375
2801 S 47th St., Suite A 6448 Kaw Dr. 5501 Truman Rd.
Kansas City, KS 66106 Kansas City, KS 66111 Kansas City, MO 64127
Dollar General #12892 Dollar General #2652
5000 E Linwood Blvd. 5008 NE Parvin Rd.
Kansas City, MO 64128 Kansas City, MO 64117
