Logano and the Home Depot Team Finish Seventh in Shootout at Daytona
February 8, 2009- 1. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Chevrolet
- 2. Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge
- 3. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 7. Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
Daytona Beach, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2010) – Joey Logano earned his first top-10 finish at Daytona International Speedway when he took the checkered flag for the Shootout at Daytona in the seventh position. It was Logano's second start in the non-points race that kicked off the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
"This Shootout was better than my first one in the Home Depot Toyota," said Logano. "It was pretty fun. I felt like we did a decent job with what we had. I don't know what happened. We had a good car in the first part, we were just tight. We came in and freed it up and started the next run after the 25 lap period. We were picking up spots and the car was pretty good. We didn't really want to change much except to tighten me up a little bit, but we got really loose on the last run before that last caution. We lost a ton of spots and I was hanging on for dear life. I will take a seventh-place finish and everything the information I gained that should help next weekend for the Daytona 500."
The Shootout is broken into two segments of 25 and 50 laps respectively. Logano started from the 21st spot after crew chief Greg Zipadelli drew the position at the Shootout party on Thursday evening. Five laps into the first segment, Logano told the Home Depot Team the car was too tight while running 20th. He maneuvered up to the 15th spot and told the team the balance was pretty good in the middle of the pack.
Logano's first close call of the day came on lap 24 when he got into the No. 51 car, which spun. The No. 20 Toyota sustained damage to the right front fender which the Home Depot Team repaired under the mandatory 10-minute break between segments. The cars rolled off pit road to start the 50-lap segment with Logano in the 18th position.
The second close call came on lap 32 when the No. 5 car hit the No. 2 car, which then shot down in between Logano's car and his teammate Kyle Busch's car. He brought the car down pit road for a chassis adjustment, four tires and fuel before returning to the track in the ninth position. With 30 laps to go, Logano was struggling with a very loose car and dropped back to the 18th position. Fortunately for the Home Depot Team, the caution waved on lap 69 and Logano brought the car down pit road for right-side tires and a chassis adjustment to tighten up his Toyota.
The caution set up a green-white-checkered finish when racing resumed on lap 74. Logano took the green flag in the 11th position, but a six-car wreck broke out and the race ended under caution. Logano had avoided the incident and took the checkered flag in the seventh position. His teammates Busch and Denny Hamlin finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Up next for Logano and the No. 20 Home Depot Team are the qualifying races on Thursday afternoon. Logano lines up ninth in the second of the two qualifying races that determine the starting order for the Daytona 500, which will air live on SpeedTV with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. EST.
