Start: 20th | Stage One: 19th | Stage Two: 20th | Finish: 11th | Points: 15th

It was a day of adversity for Joey Logano and the No. 22 AAA Insurance team who rallied to an 11th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway to complete the ninth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season. The 276-lap event around the 1.5-mile Lone Star State circuit began with a nearly caution-free first Stage, although was followed by two segments filled with yellow flags and resulted in three consecutive NASCAR overtime finishes. The AAA Insurance Ford lined up on the outside row in 20th-place to begin the 400-mile quest to the finish with Logano and the No. 22 crew prioritizing their Ford Mustang’s handling in the opening sequence. Stage two shifted focus to the front, with the team capitalizing on right-side tire and fuel stops to stay competitive within the field. The segment continued with tight three-wide battles, but Logano persevered to pick up multiple positions, advancing all the way within the top 10 as varying strategies played out. The No. 22 team was to a race-high ninth place when a caution appeared with 23 laps remaining in the stage. Logano visited pit lane for service with the No. 22 crew doing quick work to replace the right-side tires and refresh the car with fuel, although an untimely pit stop from a competitor in the stall ahead of Logano resulted in interference, and a collision, causing a delay on pit road and right-side damage. The result adversely affected the AAA Insurance Ford, still it powered through to finish the caution-plagued stage in 20th. Logano was a man on a mission as the race headed toward its conclusion, he drove to 13th before green flag pit stops began. Crew chief Paul Wolfe opted to keep the AAA Insurance Ford on-track running the stage long in the hopes of catching a caution. The move paid dividends when the caution waved on lap 228. With the best track position he had all day, Logano managed to bring home an 11th place finish after a chaotic final few laps of racing.

“It was a decent day all things considering. Great call by Paul [Wolfe] to run long and gain some track position back. Certainly, we want to be up there contending for wins, but you have to take what the day gives you and considering how crazy the end was, I think we did that.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for Round 10 of the 2024 season on Sunday, April 21. Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.