· Joey Logano scored a 16th-place in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. An unscheduled pit stop under green on lap 69 of the 500-lap race dropped Logano three laps down but he rallied back onto the lead lap as the race entered its final quarter, only to lose distance when he was involved in another incident on lap 364. He is second in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, 39 points behind leader Kyle Busch.

· Logano started 11th and wasted no time moving inside the top-10, reaching the seventh position by lap 20. By lap 50, spotter TJ Majors continued to update Logano through the opening laps about the changing groove around the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway. By lap 50, Logano had dropped back to ninth, fighting a tight Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang.

· Unfortunately, a sidewall failure prompted an unscheduled stop for Logano under green on lap 69 and after taking four tires and fuel, Logano returned to the track three laps down. A caution on lap 81 gave Logano the opportunity to take the wave around, regaining one of the laps. During the stage caution on lap 127, Logano pitted for a significant trackbar adjustment to free up the No. 22 Mustang.

· Logano restarted 29th, two laps down, when Stage 2 went green on lap 134. Through the opening laps of the second stage, Logano reported the Shell-Pennzoil Ford was now loose side. The third caution on lap 191 Logano the opportunity to take the wave around again, making up another lap to the leaders. A caution at lap 214 gave Logano the opportunity to pit for four tires and an air pressure adjustment to battle for the free pass position.

· Logano ran well enough during the remainder of Stage 2 to earn the free pass back to the lead lap when the segment concluded on lap 250. He reported that his corner exit was as tight as it had been at the beginning of the race. Logano pitted under the stage caution for four tires plus a wedge adjustment to aid the ill handling No. 22 Mustang. The race went green on lap 259 with Logano in 20th position.

· He was up to 16th position by lap 321 but reported that the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang was still too tight. Just when things were moving in a positive direction, Logano was involved in a three-car incident at lap 364, significantly damaging the nose of his Ford Mustang. The team pitted multiple times under caution to make repairs and returned to the track one lap down.

· Despite the damage, Logano ran inside the top 20 as the laps continued to click off, falling a second lap down on lap 437. He stayed in 16th position for the remainder of the race, wrestling a tight-handling Mustang during the closing laps of the race.

 

“It was a tough night for our Shell-Pennzoil team. We started the race tight and then we had the right-front tire go down. We were able get back on the lead lap and kept making adjustments to get better. But once we got the damage late in the race, that pretty much sealed our fate.”