Start: 4th | Stage One: 11th | Stage Two: 3rd | Finish: 22nd | Points: 26th

Joey Logano wheeled the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to a 22nd-place finish Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway. After battling a tight-handling condition in the early going, Logano and the No. 22 worked to manage tire wear that became increasingly prevalent throughout the field as the opening stage unfolded. Several of the leaders began to falter in the closing laps of Stage 1, but Logano prevailed to come away with an 11th-place finish in the opening segment. Logano raced his way back into the top-five by lap 204 and was running sixth at the time of the caution on lap 226 when the No. 22 team opted for right sides tires only under yellow, allowing Logano to restart fifth with 11 to go in the second stage. He took the lead with five to go in the segment, but ultimately settled for a third-place finish in Stage 2. As tire wear continued to be a key factor over the long runs, Logano was shuffled outside of the top-20 before the start of green flag stops and eventually hit pit road on lap 436 for the team’s final set of sticker tires. The 500-lap race remained green the rest of the way as Logano crossed the line 22nd when the checkered flag flew.

“Up and down day for our Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang team. Obviously tire wear played a huge factor we were doing everything we could to manage that and track position all day. It seemed like everyone was chasing different strategies on the fly which made this race what it was. Glad we were able to make it out of here with some stage points and we’ll keep moving forward.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series takes on its first road course of the season on Sunday, March 24 for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.