Logano Grabs 14th-Place Finish in Final Race for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Post-Race Highlights:

  • Joey Logano qualified his No. 20 Home Depot / Red Beacon Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was Logano’s fifth-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole and his second of the 2012 season.
  • On Saturday, Logano was involved in a practice accident in the first of the two scheduled Sprint Cup Series practices. The damage to the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota was extensive enough to go to a backup, which forced Logano to have to give up his pole position and start at the rear of the field.
  • When the green flag flew, Logano started his march forward from the 39th position he had to start after going to a backup. By lap 30, Logano was already up to 22nd and broke into the top-20 on lap 44.
  • Logano was fighting a loose in and tight off condition most of the day and crew chief Jason Ratcliff made a number of big adjustments to fix the problem. The car continued to get better and better and Logano kept moving on up, eventually breaking into the top-10 by lap 140.
  • As the sun began to set, the track began to change, as did the handling of the No. 20 Toyota. Despite being in the top-10, Logano fell back to 20th as the car got extremely loose. Logano fell a lap down on lap 213, but was able to race his way back onto the lead lap by passing the leader just 15 laps later.
  • Ratcliff radioed to Logano and told him he was good on fuel to the end when several others weren’t. Logano found himself passing cars and running seventh as the laps were winding down. However, with just two to go, Logano ran out of fuel and had to coast around the 1.5-mile track to the finish. Logano ended up finishing in the 14th position.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“It’s hard to imagine that it’s all over. It has been a long, great run with the guys here at Joe Gibbs Racing. I am really going to miss seeing all of them on a weekly basis. The entire JGR team has done a lot for me over the years, from giving me a break in the Pro Cup Series through the Busch East Series and in Nationwide and Cup. I’ve made a lot of good friends and have a lot of good memories from there. It’s just hard to believe that it is all over. But that is part of the life and that is what happens. We just move on. But I will cherish those friendships for a lifetime.

“We had a pretty good car here at Homestead, especially for being the backup car. It’s too bad that we had to go to the backup after getting caught up in that accident on Saturday. I felt like our primary car was really good. But the guys did a great job at getting the backup car ready and it was fast. Even though we had to start at the back of the pack, we were able to make steady gains and get to the front. It showed how good we really were. And there at the end, we thought we were good to go on fuel. But we just ran a couple of laps short. We had a top-10, but had to settle for 14th. In the end, it wasn’t where we finished. It was just about finishing out our run here at JGR. And it’s been a great run. I’ll forever be grateful to them.”

Related Articles

EcoBoost 400