Loose, Tight, Loose the Name of the Game for Logano at New Hampshire.

Post-Race Highlights:

  • Joey Logano and his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota qualified 16th for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
  • When the race began, Logano picked up two spots right away, but found himself stuck anywhere between the 14th-16th positions for the first portion of the race.
  • Logano radioed into crew chief Jason Ratcliff and said his car was loose in, tight center and loose off. Those six words would be six words that would be repeated all afternoon long at NHMS for the 22-year-old driver.
  • During the day, Ratcliff would make wholesale changes on No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, including wedge adjustments, a rubber in the left rear, rubber out of the right rear and several air pressure changes.
  • Despite the changes, Logano continued to radio in the car was loose in and off and was tight in the center. Again, Logano found himself anywhere between 14th and 17th on the track.
  • The team caught a break late in the race when green-flag pit stops were underway. Ratcliff had left Logano out on the track and when a caution came out, Logano came out of the pits in the 10th position. When the green flew, Logano picked up two more spots and found himself eighth with 60 laps to go.
  • Logano wouldn’t hold onto the top-10 for long, as the loose in and tight center condition continued to plague the No. 20 Toyota and Logano dropped back to 14th when the event came to conclusion.
  • The 14th-place finish dropped Logano two spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings to 16th. However, there are only three points separating him the drivers in 14th and 15th.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“We struggled today with the Home Depot Toyota. We had a 16th-place car to start and had about a 14th-place car at the end and that is all we could get out of it. Jason and the guys made a lot of changes but we couldn’t really get the car to improve all day long. We made minor gains, but it just never got good enough to race our way into the top 10. We finished 14th and had a 14th-place car today. So in the end, it was an ok day. We just got to look at it that it was a top-15 finish and it could have been a lot worse.

“We lost a couple of spots in the Wild Card standings, but the points are still really close. Just a couple of positions on the track can completely change the outlook of things from here on out. So things could have been worse. We just have to move on and try to win a couple of races before the Chase starts. There are a couple of good tracks for me coming up in Indy and going back to Pocono. I really feel like the No. 20 Home Depot team can win both of those races. We are capable for sure. So we will just move on and get it done there.”

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