The Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway (2.66-mile tri-oval, Talladega, Alabama)

No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion driven by Joey Logano

Sunday, May 5, 1:00 pm ET

• TOP-FIVES: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team has recorded three top-five finishes in the last five events heading into this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. Logano finished third at Auto Club Speedway after leading 41 laps, then backed it up with a fifth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway just two weeks later. Last weekend, Logano earned his third top-five finish, coming home third at Richmond International Raceway. Logano had just two top-five finishes all of last season and has secured three already this year through the season’s first nine races.
• DOUBLE DUTY: Logano will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series season debut in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Logano has done double duty on race weekends twice already this year, both times behind the wheel of a Brad Keselowski Racing entry in the Truck Series
• FEAST OR FAMINE AT DEGA: Talladega Superspeedway, known for its pack racing, has been both good and bad for Logano. In his eight-career Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega, Logano recorded two top-five and four top-10 finishes in his first five races at the track. In his last three races at the venue, he’s been involved in multi-car accidents. In NNS competition, Logano is the defending race winner at Talladega and has never finished lower than third in four career starts at the track.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RACE AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY?

“Some people really like it and some people don’t. That’s just the nature of restrictor-plate racing. I really enjoy it and I feel like I’ve become adaptable to it since I started. The worst part about it is that you only control part of your own destiny. When you are out there racing in a pack, your day can be ruined by someone else’s mistake. We’ve all had it happen to us and been a part of that. That is when it is frustrating. But it’s also a lot of fun because if you make the right moves, you can get to the front quickly. It’s just a part of our sport.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE GEN-6 CAR AT DAYTONA

“It really made the style of plate racing that we have become accustomed to different. It ended up being a lot faster to stay in line and work on timing to make your moves. It will be interesting to see if it’s the same way this weekend at Talladega. We have our ideas as to how the race will play out, but we have a lot more time with these Gen-6 cars now. We will just have to wait and see.”