Joey Logano and the No. 22 Hertz Rent-A-Racer Ford Fusion struggled with a loose car all afternoon long and finished sixth in the Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday. Logano, driving a special-look Hertz Mustang, started fourth and raced his way to second in the first five laps of the event. Early on though, Logano complained of a tight car and crew chief Greg Erwin made some major adjustments on the first pit stop, coming on a competition caution, to help loosen the car up. The adjustments worked, but Logano quickly became too loose. Despite the ill-handling car, Logano stayed inside the top five for most of the day. Late in the race, Logano continued to complain of a loose car and Erwin left him on the track hoping for a late caution to trap some of the front runners a lap down during green-flag pit stops. The caution never came though and Logano came into the pits with less than 15 to go for his final stop of the day. When he came back out, Logano was able to drive from 12th to sixth as the checkers flew. It was Logano’s eighth top-10 finish in nine races this season. The No. 22 team continues to lead the NASCAR XFINITY Series Owners’ point standings, 85 points up on the No. 54 from Joe Gibbs Racing.
“We had an okay Hertz Ford Mustang, but that is about where we should have finished. We maybe had a fourth- or fifth-place car, but that is about it. We were just missing a little bit out there to be able to contend for a win here today but I am proud of the 22 team. They worked hard to adjust on it. We were just too loose all day. It was hot out there and I am just disappointed we couldn’t get a better finish because this Hertz Rent-A-Racer Mustang is such a cool looking car, it deserved to go to victory lane.”