· Joey Logano started fifth in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Logano ran in the top-five the majority of the opening 20 laps before dropping to the sixth position before the lap 25 competition caution. The driver reported the car was slightly loose or slightly tight depending on the trackbar setting, but lacked overall rear-grip.

· Through the second run of the race, Logano continued to battle a car that was lacking overall grip, while needing the handling to shift more neutral. Logano would finish the first stage in ninth, but due to varying pit strategy, restart in the 12th position. Within six laps, the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford had driven back to the top-five.

· Under the fifth caution flag of the race, Logano experienced an engine cutout prior to the pit stop where he was forced to cycle the system. On the stop, the team took four tires, dropping them from fifth, to 14th. At the end of the second stage, Logano reported his car was the best it had been all afternoon, but was struggling with the dirty air when he closed up on another car. On the stage ending stop, the Shell-Pennzoil crew gained Logano four positions, lining him up in the advantageous outside line in the 10th position.

· Logano was able to battle forward to the seventh position before the race was halted at lap 133 as rain moved back into the Irish Hills for the final time of the afternoon. The top-10 finish marked Logano’s 12th of the season, keeping him in third place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver Points.

 

“I got out of the car and thought, ‘Man, that was a weird day.’ It was hard to pass. I had a car that was capable of running in the top-five but the result depended on the restart. If you got a good restart you could settle in and run pretty well. Our car took off pretty good on restarts which was good and played into our hands a little bit. We had a good pit stop at the end that got us up to tenth and we had a good restart at the end and got a couple cars and that is what got us to the seventh place finish.”