· Joey Logano and the No 22 Shell-Pennzoil team survived a Sunday washout and tough race conditions to score a seventh-place finish at Dover International Speedway on Monday afternoon, his eighth top-10 finish of the year. He remains second in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, trailing Kyle Busch by just five points.

· Logano started the rain-delayed race in the fourth position and quickly jumped to second as the outside lane on double-file restarts proved to be the preferred groove. He stayed in the second spot until the competition caution came out at lap 40.

· The 28-year-old driver slipped back to third following an air pressure adjustment on the first pit stop while still battling a tight-handling Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang. He then took the lead following a two-tire stop with less than 10 laps to go to the end of Stage 1. Logano picked up the Stage 1 win, holding off teammate Brad Keselowski and earning another valuable Playoff point in the process.

· The Shell-Pennzoil Mustang began Stage 2 deep in the field, restarting in the 24th position when most of the lead lap cars chose to stay on track during the caution following Stage 1. Logano made it up to 18th position before green flag stops cycled out – no easy accomplishment considering driving through traffic in dirty air made it tough to pass. He was credited with a 14th position at the end of Stage 2.

· The third and final stage went green on lap 249 with Logano and the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang in the 13th position. Once again, track position and dirty air ruled. Logano stalled out in the 14th spot, despite saying his Mustang was handling the best it had all day long. A solid pit stop, followed by a great restart on lap 269 saw Logano jump from 10th to sixth and he begin to chase down the leaders with two fresh tires. But the final 131-lap green flag run prevented Logano from making up any other positions as the field spread out. He was credited with a seventh-place finish at the checkered flag.

 

“We made the most out of our day today for sure. We took a seventh-place car and won a stage, got a playoff point, and racked up some more stage points. We maximized what we could do. I’m happy with how the Shell-Pennzoil team performed. We were solid in the pits. It was a physical race out there for sure. This is one of the toughest places for a driver to race. I’m proud of my team.”