Joey Logano and No. 20 Home Depot Team – Talladega Superspeedway Advance

Joey Logano  No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway   

The Home Depot Team Notes of Interest

·         Joey Logano and The Home Depot Team return to Talladega Superspeedway where Logano has earned three top-10 finishes in just four starts at the Alabama track. The 20-year-old finished fifth in his last race at Talladega in October wherethe front five cars, including The Home Depot Toyota, broke away from the pack as they took the white flag of the 188-lap event.  Instead of seeing how the chess match would play out the caution flag waved ending the race.  Logano was unable to make his run at the top spot, but earned the top-five finish.

·         About last weekend: Logano would prefer to have no luck rather than the hand he’s been dealt for the first part of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Logano and The Home Depot Team were once again caught up in an accident not of their own making early in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night when the No. 20 car was hit on pit road by David Reutimann. Despite valiant attempts to get back onto the lead lap, the team could not recover from the early race deficit and eventually finished the race in 24th position.

·         Lights, camera, action!  Logano along with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart will be at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Tuesday filming an upcoming episode for A&E’s The Glades.  The Glades, a one-hour long crime drama, is the highest rated original program for the network. 

·         The Home Depot Team is tied for 27th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings following the race at Texas Motor Speedway.  Logano is 30 points behind teammate Denny Hamlin who sits 20th in points, and 69 points out of the top10.

·         Welcome aboard The Home Depot associates from store #2608 from Quincy, Mass.  The store number will draft along with Logano this weekend on the rear quarter panel of The Home Depot Toyota.

·         The No. 20 Home Depot Team is taking chassis #293 to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the restrictor-plate race.  Logano drove this chassis in the season-opening Daytona 500 where the No. 2 car spun late in the race and clipped the right rear of the No. 20 Camry causing extensive damage. Logano came into the pits for repairs and was able to finish in the 23rd position.  The back-up chassis is chassis #212 which Logano drove in the 2010 Daytona 500.

·         To access information on The Home Depot Team visit: www.joegibbsracing.comand follow twitter.com/homedepotracing, twitter.com/joegibbsracingand twitter.com/jlogano.  

Logano Quotes on Talladega Superspeedway: “I’m expecting Talladega to be a lot like Daytona this weekend.  Everyone will be pushing each other around the track in the two-car tandems. To be successful at this type of racing you really have to set your car up to be pushed and be able to push the car in front of you.  It’s a fine balance. 

  “At the end of Daytona, I figured some things out so The Home Depot Toyota could push cars longer.  I also think everyone learned a lot from Daytona.  I’m sure teams have figured out how to keep the engines cooler to push longer without having to switch so much, so I don’t think you will see as many tandems stalling out as often and getting freight trained.  The good thing about Talladega is that it’s wider than Daytona, so when you get a run on a group there’s more room to pass them.  It should, and hopefully help, eliminate many of the wrecks we saw in Daytona.”   

No. 20 Home Depot Team Primary Team Members: Crew Chief – Greg Zipadelli                             Car Chief – Jason Shapiro                                Engine Builder – Mark Cronquist    

Lead Engineer – Jacob Canter                        Engine Specialist – Michael Johnson             Spotter – Mark Robertson Tire Specialist – Jerold Shires                          Shock Specialist – Dusty Boyd                         Second Engineer – Mike Lorusso Mechanics – Scott Geerts, Todd Foster         Pit Support – Bill Byrne                                      IT Support – Nathan Boone Truck Drivers – Tom McCrimmon, Scott Crowell   Over-The-Wall Crew Members: Jackman – Jason Tate                                       Front Tire Changer – John Royer                    Front Tire Carrier – Brett Morrell Gas Man – John Eicher                                     Rear Tire Changer – Coleman Dallarhide     Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen