Start: 2nd | Stage One: 12th | Stage Two: 28th | Finish: 28th | Points: 33rd

After starting at the tail-end of the field and serving a pass-through penalty on the opening lap Sunday stemming from a rules infraction assessed by NASCAR prior to the start of the Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team managed to stay on the lead lap when a multi-car incident in the trioval unfolded while Logano was on pit road. While the caution allowed crew chief Paul Wolfe to take on an alternate fuel strategy, Logano raced his way into the top-10 by lap 50 before crossing the line 12th at the conclusion of Stage 1. Wolfe kept Logano on track while a majority of the leaders pitted at the stage break, allowing the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to restart from the outside of row one before making the pass for the lead out of turn four on lap 99 – the first of 27 laps Logano led on the afternoon. He and teammate Ryan Blaney began the green flag pit cycle on lap 127 with fuel-only stops before the Team Penske trio took over the top three spots in the running order at the completion of the cycle with the laps winding down in Stage 2. On the final lap of the stage, Logano made contact with the No. 17 off the exit of turn two and sustained significant right-front damage after getting turned into the outside wall. Logano made several trips to pit road as the No. 22 team worked to make repairs, allowing him to rejoin the field eight laps down en route to a 28th-place finish.

“Yeah, I just made a mistake. I thought I could fill the gap in front of the 17 coming off turn two and once I realized I couldn’t get up there, I tried turning back down but once it started packing air on my right rear I couldn’t turn down. I got tight and it got me in the wall.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, March 3. Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.