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race review

• Joey Logano started fifth and finished third in Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. Logano led the race five times for 49 laps, including being in the lead when a caution came out at lap 380, setting up a final pit stop and a 17-lap run to the finish. In addition to his third-place final result, Logano scored 16 stage points, finishing third in the first and second stage.
• On the opening run, Logano was battling a lack of rear-grip, but maintained inside the top-five, bringing the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang to pit road at the competition caution in the fourth position for four tires and an air pressure change. Logano would continue on and finish the opening stage in the third position, reporting he needed more turn and more entry security over the long run.
• Logano continued inside the top-five, pitting at lap 139 under green, just before the yellow flag was thrown for a single car incident. The team remained on the track and restarted in the fifth position and climbed to the fourth position at lap 160. The team elected to pit at lap 186 with the majority of the race leaders, while others remained on the track attempting to run to the end of the stage. The team finished the second stage in the third position. On the stop, they made an air pressure change as Logano was still looking for more entry and exit without hurting the center turn.
• At lap 335, Logano passed the No. 11 for the race lead and reported to the team he needed just a little more turn in the center and drive off for the last run. At lap 342, crew chief Paul Wolfe called the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang to pit road for four tires and an air pressure adjustment, looking for that last bit of drive off the corner.
• Logano was battling with the No. 11 at Lap 380, maintaining the lead, when the caution flag came out for a spin in Turn 3. The team setup to make an air pressure adjustment for the short run to the end. The team would restart in the second position. Unfortunately, Logano would slip to third in the closing laps where he’d finish in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang.

 

quote

“We just needed more turn. We didn’t turn good enough to take off. The 48 sure did. They put the qualifying pressures in or something. That thing took off like a rocket. Denny and I caught him the last few laps, which was probably because they showed the adjustments they made to their car to make it fire off. They started to pay a penalty at the end, but they were too far out. Congratulations to them. They beat us. They beat us fair and square. It stinks when you’re that close. We were leading with a few to go. Denny and I had a hell of a race. It was pretty fun there for a minute, but here we are third. It stings. We were up there all day. It’s a decent finish, don’t get me wrong, but wanted more for our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang.”