Rain Shortens California Event Leaving Logano 24th

Post Race Highlights:

• Logano qualified eighth for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. It was Logano’s fourth-straight top-10 qualifying run to start the season.
• When the green flag flew, Logano instantly started talking of an extremely tight racecar. Logano said the Dollar General Toyota was tight in the center and off, resulting in a lack of straightaway speed. Logano fell back into the 18th position until the car started to get better.
• A 100-plus lap green flag run meant several green-flag pit stops for crew chief Jason Ratcliff to try and make the Dollar General Toyota better. Each time, the car improved, but the tight condition persisted.
• On lap 70 following the second green-flag pit stop, Logano was caught speeding on pit road and had to come back and serve a pass-through penalty. That resulting penalty dropped Logano a lap down in the 26th position.
• Logano was able to claw back up to 21st before rain began to move into the area and the car continued to improve.
• During the caution for rain, Ratcliff brought Logano down pit road for four tires and fuel, hoping the race would go back green. Unfortunately, the rain persisted and NASCAR was forced to call the event complete after just 129 of the 200 scheduled laps. Logano ended up in the 24th position.
• With his 24th-place run, Logano fell to 13th unofficially in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“We struggled all day today with the Dollar General Toyota. The car was so tight right at the start of the race I couldn’t hardly drive it. It was plowing through the corners and I couldn’t get a good drive off, which would kill my straightaway speed. On a track like this, that kills you. We fell like a rock there until we were able to try and make adjustments. Each green flag stop, we did a little more and more adjustments, but never could get the car to handle right.

“The pit road speeding penalty was all my fault. I still think I was under it according to my tach, but that they said we were over so we were over. There is nothing you can do about that. That really put us behind and put us a lap down and with the long green flag run, there was no making that up. I am really frustrated about it, but there is no time to dwell on things. You just need to put it behind you and move on. We have a great team and we can get right back to where we were on the track and in the point standings. Onto Martinsville now.”