· Joey Logano started 20th in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in Sunday afternoon’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Logano worked his way into the top-15 during the opening five laps as most competitors began forming up single file. Under the first pit stop at lap 12, the Shell-Pennzoil team made a wedge adjustment and added fuel for the tight condition.
· After pitting, Logano led Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney forward towards the top-five, joining Ford Performance teammates from Stewart-Haas Racing leading the field around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. Logano would finish the first stage in fifth position. On the stage ending stop, crew chief Todd Gordon elected to make an air pressure adjustment on the four-tire stop, working to give Logano added front turn on the long run.
· The handling of the Shell-Pennzoil Ford improved during the second stage, with Logano acknowledging the adjustments got about half of the tightness out of the car that he needed. A late stage restart would position on the outside line in sixth, unfortunately, Logano would slip back to the ninth position in the five lap dash to the green-checkered flag.
· The air pressure adjustments worked as Logano powered to the second position by lap 128, trailing only teammate Brad Keselowski for the race lead. Logano would make a move to try and capture the lead on lap 130, but lost his drafting help and was shuffled back to the fourth position when the caution flag was displayed at lap 137. Under the caution, crew chief Todd Gordon elected to add tape to the nose of the car and take four tires when many of the leaders took two tires.
· Logano remained inside the top-ten until a caution flag at lap 160 for an uncontrolled tire in the front stretch grass brought out the caution flag with 28 laps remaining. Logano reported he was still slightly loose in the tri-oval and only slightly tight in the center of the turns. Crew chief Todd Gordon elected to keep the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford on the track with the rest of the leaders while the majority of the cars outside the top-15 elected to pit.
· Logano would persevere through the green-white-checkered finish to bring the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion home in the fifth position. Heading to Kansas Speedway next week, Logano and the No. 22 Ford team find themselves third in the playoff standings.
“Those Stewart-Haas cars drove great and they were really, really fast. They showed it in qualifying and they were so committed to each other and they did a great job. They probably would have finished 1-2-3-4 if they didn’t run out of gas, so they were definitely quick. We had a pretty good Shell/Pennzoil Ford, not the winning car, but definitely a top-five car, the best of the rest you could call it. We scored some stage points and then a solid top five, so I’m proud of that. I don’t know where that puts us in points, but I think it puts us in a decent spot to where we can go to Kansas and race hard, so not that we didn’t race hard today, but it was just gonna take a lot to beat the teamwork and the cars that they had today.”