• Joey Logano had one of the fastest cars on the track on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but an early two-lap penalty forced the team to fight from behind all day. However, despite the penalty, the team battled back and persevered all day long, and eventually earned a fourth-place finish in the Foxwoods Casino 301.
• The race went green on schedule, but was quickly delayed for rain after a multi-vehicle incident occurred in turn 1. Under the red flag, the No. 22 Autotrader team was assessed a two-lap penalty after NASCAR deemed the team worked on the car by taking a photo under the hood flap of the potential sticking throttle. A caution at lap 33 allowed the team to get one lap back.
• Still trapped a lap down, Logano continued turning impressive lap times, working to maintain the free pass position in Stage 2. At lap 133, the Autotrader Mustang hit pit road for four tires and a trackbar adjustment as Logano continued to battle to get back on the lead lap. Logano caught the break he needed by getting a caution on lap 139 and regained his-lost lap.
• Logano was credited with a 15th place finish in Stage 2 as the team pitted what might have been their final stop as darkness began to fall over New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After the restart, Logano charged into the top-10, running lap times as fast as the race leaders. The race continued with Logano pitting at lap 250 for four tires and fuel, no other changes.
• The impressive late-race surge continued with Logano moving into the top-five and racing as high as the fourth position as NASCAR deemed it to dark to continue, posting 10 laps remaining. Logano’s charge to the front was cut short, with the former series champion earning a fourth-place finish.
“We had a really fast Autotrader Mustang. When you come to your home track all you want to do is win. A straight kick to the gut to start the race with a piece of rubber getting in the linkage, the throttle linkage, and not letting me get wide-open. All we did was take a picture under the red flag, underneath the hood to see what was under there. We took a picture with a camera phone and they gave us a two-lap penalty for that. I understand the rules are the rules, but it’s also a safety factor and the last thing you want is a throttle to stick and get hurt. I don’t know. Hindsight is 20/20, but you would never know what it was if you didn’t take a picture, but it still had the piece of rubber in it. It’s frustrating. We got a good finish out of it, but it’s frustrating when you’re at your home track and you feel like you could have got a win out of it, out of a safety issue that we got a penalty for.”
