Start: 9th
Finish: 12th

Stage One: 12th
Stage Two: 11th

Points: 13th

Joey Logano and the No. 22 Pennzoil team fought their way to a 12th-place finish in Sunday afternoon’s South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The defending race winner battled handling issues on the opening run of the 400-mile event, shuffling Logano back to 14th in the early going, but a scheduled four-tire stop with a round of adjustments on lap 34 began to neutralize the balance of the Pennzoil Ford Mustang. The caution flag flew 30 laps later as Logano reported a tight-handling condition that began to build over the course of the run, prompting another four-tire stop under caution as he lined up for the restart 13th with nine to go in Stage 1. Logano rallied for a 12th-place finish in the stage despite a lack of grip when firing off. Following a caution on lap 111, the 22 crew gained Logano four spots on pit road to take the ensuing restart from eighth in the running order, but the Pennzoil Ford took off tight as he eventually settled into 15th. A single-car incident on lap 145 prompted crew chief Paul Wolfe to call for right side tires and fuel when the field hit pit road, vaulting Logano to take the green flag from the inside of row two with 16 laps remaining in the second segment. Logano battled to maintain track position to the end of stage, ultimately settling for an 12th-place finish in Stage 2. Following a four-tire stop and a round of adjustments at the stage break, Logano surged back into the top-10 on the opening laps of the run despite a loose-handling condition that started to build over the course of the cycle. Another solid stop from the No. 22 team following a caution on lap 209 positioned Logano eighth as the field went back green with 52 laps to go before he ultimately took the checkered flag 12th.

“We had a decent day, just not enough speed to contend for a win with our Pennzoil Ford Mustang. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] and the 22 guys made some good calls on the box to gain us some track position all day but we lacked the long run speed needed to maintain the pace with the leaders in the end. A lot of good takeaways for us and we’ll get back after it at Homestead.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 22 for the second race in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8. Coverage of the 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 begins at 2:30 pm E.T. on NBC, MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.