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race review

• Joey Logano started second and finished third in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway, running solidly inside the top-five throughout the event and leading 45 laps in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang. The race featured long green-flag runs with Logano being too tight in the center of the turns for much of the 400-lap event.
• Logano started the race needing more center turn in the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang, but reported the car continued to improve the longer the opening run went. On the first pit stop at lap 30, crew chief Paul Wolfe adjusted with trackbar and tape on the nose of the No. 22 Ford. Logano finished the opening stage in the third position and still needing more center turn.
• After leading the opening laps of the second stage, Logano settled into the second position until the team pitted at lap 162 for four tires and an air pressure adjustment. Logano finished Stage 2 in fourth position, struggling as the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang continued to build tight once the grip on his Goodyear tires went away.
• In the final stage, Logano continued to run inside the top-five with his teammate Brad Keselowski. Wolfe called Logano to pit road at lap 294, allowing Logano to leapfrog Keselowski and into the lead. Both Logano and Keselowski were now committed to a two-stop strategy for the final stage.
• The remainder of the race ran green, with Logano holding firm to third position, keeping with the trend of running in the top-five for the entire evening. Logano heads to the first elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway next week third in the standings, 34 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.

 

quote

“It was a pretty calm race and we just kind of hung around in the top three the whole time. I felt like our Shell-Pennzoil Ford was pretty good in the beginning of the race. It just seemed like we had third to fourth-place speed and we finished third. We scored stage points and a top-five and that puts us in a pretty good spot for next weekend. I’m proud of the effort and proud of what we’ve picked up here lately since the playoffs started. We just have to keep it rolling.”

 


Federated Auto Parts 400