Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion ran solidly inside the top-five most of the afternoon on Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, eventually coming home fourth, his 11th top-five finish of the season. Logano started second, but slipped back to fourth early when the inside line didn’t go on the initial start. Logano fought a loose in, tight center condition for the early part of the event. Crew chief Todd Gordon made several adjustments to the No. 22 Fusion, including wedge and air adjustments. Logano slipped back as far as 10th just past the 100-lap mark when several cars stayed out as Gordon brought Logano down pit road for service. From there, Logano would race his way back toward the front, eventually taking the lead as green flag pit stops cycled through on lap 179. Logano would lead for 12 laps before having to pit, under caution, and restart eighth. For much of the latter portions of the race, Logano would ride in the third position. Logano eventually slipped back to fourth, where he would finish as the checkers waved. It was Logano’s 11th top-five finish of the season, second-best in the series. He also moved up one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings and now sits second behind leader Kevin Harvick by 69 markers.
“We had great execution with the Shell-Pennzoil Ford, just not enough speed. Todd made some great calls keeping us toward the front. We were good on the restarts and got a few when we could there. When you’ve got four tires you try to make something happen, but we just didn’t have enough speed in our race car to go up there and race with those guys. We’ll find a little bit more speed before we come back. It’s still another top-five. We’ll take these top-fives, they’re nice to have, but right now wins are the only thing that pays.”