Joey Logano overcame being involved in three multi-car accidents and falling four laps down to come back and score a lead-lap, 22nd-place finish in the rain-delayed Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday evening/Monday morning. The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion started 33rd after qualifying was rained out on Saturday and the lineup was set by practice speeds. Evening rain showers and thunderstorms pushed the start of the race back by three hours to just after 11:30pm. Once the green flew, Logano was involved in the night’s first multi-car accident, causing extensive damage to his Shell-Pennzoil Ford. In the process of fixing the machine, Logano fell four laps down to the leaders. The rest of the race, Logano and crew chief Todd Gordon played the strategy game to try and get the laps back by taking the wave around whenever possible. Logano was a victim of another multi-car accident on lap 106 while just one lap down. Despite even more damage, the team worked feverishly to keep Logano on just one lap off the pace. With less than 15 laps to go, Logano finally got a timely caution and put himself back on the lead lap. Unfortunately, the damage to his machine was too severe and Logano was only able to make up seven positions over the final few laps as the race ended, giving Logano a 22nd-place finish. Logano dropped one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings to fourth.
“There isn’t much good to say about what happened here tonight. It is a product of the racing here. We got caught in the first crash which was way unfortunate after sitting around all day. We were four laps down and battled back to the lead lap, so that is something to be proud of, but we couldn’t do much once we got there.”