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  • Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion team qualified 11th for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race – the Cheez-It 355 – at Watkins Glen International.
  • As the race began, Logano began to move forward. The Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion improved several positions over the first 15 laps of the race and eventually settled into eighth place.
  • On lap 25, Logano made his first pit stop of the day under green flag conditions. During the stop, NASCAR deemed that the No. 22 crew came over the pit wall early, which forced Logano to serve a drive-through penalty. The infraction dropped Logano from eighth all the way to 37th in the running order.
  • Despite a car that was handling tight through Turn 2 and the “carousel” turns, Logano was able to race his way from 37th all the way back up to 13th before the next pit stop.
  • After a long red flag period for an accident and ensuing track repair, Logano pitted again for fuel, hoping to make it all the way to the end of the race.
  • Trouble found the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford again on lap 72 when the No. 13 car of Casey Mears spun in front of Logano through the “bus stop,” which forced Logano to drive through the grass.
  • Debris on the grill from the off-course excursion caused the motor temperatures on the Shell-Pennzoil Ford to rise and crew chief Todd Gordon called Logano in for four tires and fuel on lap 79, under the caution flag.
  • On lap 81, Logano restarted the race in the 16th position and he took advantage of fresh tires and an accident in front of him to gain seven spots on one lap.
  • A number of late-race accidents saw Logano continue to gain position after position. Showing good perseverance and patience, Logano eventually crossed the finish line in the sixth position for his third consecutive top-10 finish and his 12th overall in 2014. It also marked Logano’s third career top-10 result at Watkins Glen.
  • With the finish, Logano moved up two positions in the Sprint Cup Series point standings to fifth. He is also now ranked fifth in the Chase Grid Outlook.

YOU GUYS OVERCAME A LOT OF PROBLEMS TODAY. HOW DO YOU FEEL LOOKING BACK ON THE RACE?

“That was crazy to say the least. We had about a fifth-place car and had to go through a lot to get back to that point. We had a pit road penalty that was very questionable and definitely wasn’t to our advantage to take a pass-through penalty there and we lost a lot of track position. We fought hard with this Shell Pennzoil Ford and put tires on it late and (we were) very aggressive on the restarts and got a few spots back. I wish there were more laps. The tires were worth a few there at the end but I needed a few more laps.”

Cheez-It 355 at The Glen