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race review

• Joey Logano started 16th and finished 17th in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Despite running in or near the top-10 through most of the night, an unscheduled pit stop at lap 320 would put the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang in a deficit. The additional unscheduled stop resulted in Logano finishing two laps down to the race leaders.
• Through the opening 46 laps, Logano maintained track position near where he started, pitting from the 15th position for a trackbar and air pressure adjustment to work on the tight condition keeping the Shell-Pennzoil Ford from moving forward. With the adjustments, Logano reported the handling went from tight to loose, struggling the most in dirty air. Logano finished the opening stage in the 14th position, getting an air pressure adjustment and tape on the ensuing pit stop.
• During the second stage, Logano raced into the top-10, running there until his lap 149 pit stop where the team made a wedge adjustment. At lap 174, the team elected to make a two-tire stop, cycling Logano to third position off pit road. Unfortunately, the older left side tires would cause Logano to fade to 11th by the end of Stage 2.
• In Stage 3, darkness fell over the Charlotte Motor Speedway and as the track temperatures dropped the conditions continued to free up for the Shell-Pennzoil Ford, prompting crew chief Paul Wolfe to call for a major trackbar adjustment on the team’s stop at lap 245. Logano narrowly missed being collected by the No. 6 Ford as a right front tire went down with five laps remaining in the third stage, effectively ending the stage with Logano in 11th, fighting a tight Ford Mustang.
• Logano was forced to hit pit road at lap 320 for a severe vibration, putting the Shell-Pennzoil Ford a lap down to the race leaders and needing an additional stop to make it to the end of the race. Unfortunately, the race continued green forcing Logano to make an additional stop at lap 383, dropping him two laps down to the race leaders. Logano would finish the race in the 17th position, a disappointing end for the Shell-Pennzoil team.

 

quote

“We struggled a bit tonight to find the right balance. We fought both sides of it, loose, tight and then we had the unscheduled pit stop for the vibration. We had about a 10th place Shell-Pennzoil Mustang tonight, it just didn’t work out that way.”

 


Coca-Cola 600