Dollar General 300 Race Preview

The Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5 mile oval, Concord, N.C.)

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang driven by Joey Logano

Friday, October 11, 2013 7:30pm ET

• QUICK SWITCH: For months, Brad Keselowski was on the schedule to run the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang this weekend at Charlotte. But a simple ask to teammate Joey Logano, and the two drivers have swapped races, with Logano now driving at Charlotte and Keselowski taking the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Texas.
• DEFENDING WINNER: Logano is the defending winner of the fall NNS race at Charlotte. Last season, Logano started third and led 62 of the 200 laps en route to his eighth win of the 2012 season. Earlier this year, Logano finished third in the spring race at Charlotte in what was just his third time behind the wheel of the No. 22 Ford Mustang and working with crew chief Jeremy Bullins.
• POINTS GETTING CLOSE: With Keselowski’s accident near the end of the NNS race at Kansas due to contact with the No. 54 machine, the Penske Racing team’s Owner’s Championship points lead fell substantially. The No. 22 team now holds just a five-point advantage over the No. 54 from Joe Gibbs Racing with four races left in the season. Going into Kansas, the team was up by 26 points.
• POLE STREAK CONTINUES: At Dover, Logano earned his first Nationwide Series pole of the season, giving him 23 for his career. It also continued his streak of winning at least one pole in each of the seasons he’s raced in the Nationwide Series dating back to 2008.
• MEET LOGANO: Logano will make an appearance at the Concord Mills Discount Tire store (8521 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord, NC) from 10:00-11:15 AM on Thursday, October 11th.

THE POINTS LEAD IS CLOSE. ARE YOU FOCUSED ON POINTS RACING AT ALL?

“It’s really unfortunate that we lost all of the points that we did last weekend and the way we did. You want to see people beat you by out-running you and not something else happening. But we will just focus on running our races from here on out, trying to win those races and scoring as many points as we can. We will never really think about points racing other than the fact that we won’t make any dumb mistakes and take any chances. But the best way you can points race is to win the race and let everything play out.”

CAN YOU WIN THE DOLLAR GENERAL 300 AGAIN?

“I think so for sure. Our No. 22 team has been really good on the 1.5-mile tracks this year and Charlotte is what I consider my best track on the entire schedule. I feel like I know what it takes to get around here. And everyone wants to win at Charlotte, because a lot of the crew guys from the shop get to come out and a bunch of the road guys can bring their families. We can win it again. And I think we have as good of shot as anyone to do so.”