· Joey Logano started 10th and finished 11th after surviving heavy damage to his No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang in Monday’s continued 500-mile race at Talladega Superspeedway. Logano flashed speed throughout the race, prior to receiving the significant damage, finishing second in both the first and second stages and leading 16 laps on the afternoon.
· After starting the race in the 10th position, Logano found himself shuffled outside the top-20 for the opening laps before working back towards the top-10 in the next 10 laps. By lap 20, Logano had powered to the third position, following Ford Performance teammate Kevin Harvick and Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney. Logano reported the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang was a little free landing in the corners and slightly tight on exit. The No. 22 team elected to pit with most of the other Mustangs on lap 33 with Logano receiving fuel only.
· A caution flag at the end of the green flag pit stop cycle bunched the field up for a run to the end of the first stage. Logano was initially shuffled out, dropping all the way to the back of the pack, but with a late surge powered him to second position at the end of the stage. Before pit stops could take place, the race was halted overnight as persistent rains moved over the Talladega Superspeedway.
· When the race resumed Monday afternoon, Logano came to pit road for four tires and fuel in preparation to start the second stage. Logano immediately powered to the second position on the restart, later claiming the lead at lap 73 as the field began to form up three wide behind the leaders. On lap 78, the driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford found himself shuffled to the back of the top-10. On lap 93, Logano pitted with his fellow Ford Performance teammates for fuel and a wedge adjustment to work on the loose handling condition.
· Late in the second stage, Logano was in position to take the lead when a late block from Alex Bowman resulted in contact and a multi-vehicle incident, bringing out the caution, ending the second stage under yellow flag conditions with Logano crossing the line in second position.
· To begin the third stage, Logano restarted fifth in the less preferred inside line. At the drop of the green flag, Logano battled ultimately settling into a single file line around the top groove in the ninth position. A caution flag on lap 121 would again line Logano up in the eighth position, restarting on the outside line and quickly working forward to take the lead.
On lap 153, Logano brought the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to pit road for a potential final stop of the race, taking fuel only and returning the track, just outside the top-10. Unfortunately, Logano was swept up into a multi-vehicle accident on the backstretch, resulting in heavy damage. The Shell-Pennzoil crew worked to repair the damage to the left side of the car, only losing one lap in the process.
· With additional incidents with other lead lap competitors and the solid work by the No. 22 team, Logano was able to move forward and finish in the 11th position, moving him 18 points ahead of the cut line as the series heads to Kansas Speedway next Sunday.

 

“I was riding around and everything was good in second place and, ‘Boom.’ The next thing I know I’m sideways and up in the air. My team did an amazing job today because when we got done with the crash the hood was up and I couldn’t see. The car was barely rolling with four flat tires and everything else, and they got it to where it would run and then got through another crash to get the lucky dog and finished 11th on the day. Two second places in the stages and an 11th-place finish with a crashed race car isn’t ideal, but it’s way better than it could have been, so I’m proud of that.”