• Joey Logano started first and finished sixth in Sunday’s continued Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It was an up and down day for the Shell-Pennzoil Ford team, battling handling issues and going from outside the top-15 to back inside the top-five before settling in the sixth position.
• Logano led the opening four laps of the race before sliding back to third, battling a loose Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. As the opening run went on, Logano regained the second position and was running laps faster than the race leader before a caution at lap 40. The team adjusted with four tires and a trackbar adjustment, but the race was ultimately halted at lap 42 for rain. The race was halted overnight and resumed on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET.
• When racing resumed, Logano remained too free taking off and struggled with rear grip through the remainder of the first stage, finishing in the ninth position with the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. On the ensuring pit stop, crew chief Paul Wolfe adjusted with trackbar and air pressure adjustments. The handling issues continued during the second stage with Logano lacking lateral grip, particularly on corner exit, as he drifted back outside the top-15. A caution flag with less than 20 laps remaining in the stage spared the team from dropping a lap down. On the stop the team made a significant wedge adjustment to the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. Unfortunately, Logano was penalized for too fast exiting the pits, forcing the team to drop to the rear of the field for the 16-lap sprint to the finish of the stage.
• At the conclusion of the second stage, Logano remained on the track and then drove forward back into the top-five. He reported that the drive-off was better and the team had made progress on the handling. As the stage went on, the Shell-Pennzoil crew continued making slight adjustments to the No. 22 Ford, as Logano maintained in the top-five.
• Logano ultimately remained near the top-five, finishing sixth as the race featured a long run to the finish.

 

“I thought we were decent yesterday the first run and then fired off on this first run and was like, ‘Uh oh.’ I had no rear grip and started fighting loose in and off. We almost went down a lap, but a good strategy play got us up toward the front and a couple good changes got us closer to where I needed to be. I was expecting a lot more out of today, but we still got a sixth-place finish with our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang.”