Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway Race Report
April 25, 2010- 1. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Chevrolet
- 2. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 3. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 36. Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
Late-Race Wreck Ends The Home Depot Team's Day, Finishes 36th
Talladega, Ala. (April 25, 2010) – The Home Depot Team was having a great race at Talladega Superspeedway, led for nine laps and were sitting in the top 20 before its day was cut short. The caution waved on lap 182 and set up a green-white-checker attempt on lap 188 (the scheduled length of the event). Logano, attempting to push Ryan Newman to the front, got him loose and collected several cars including The Home Depot Toyota. The car was damaged beyond repair and Logano drove it to the garage to finish in the 36th position.
"I started pushing the 39 (Ryan Newman) and it had been working all day for us," said Logano. "Everyone kind of got out of the way and we were able to find a hole in front of him and we were going to do the two-car draft. It looked like it was going to work. I was pushing him pretty hard and we were going up towards the front and I just must have got into him the wrong way and got him loose. Then everything broke loose on that one. It was my fault. I was trying to get a little bit more than I could I guess. I feel bad for everyone that got caught up in it and for everyone on The Home Depot Team. They gave me a great superspeedway car today."
Rain washed out qualifying for the second week in a row, as tornado warnings and severe weather entered Talladega County on Saturday and canceled all track activity. The field was set by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points with the Home Depot Toyota sitting 12th on the starting grid. It took just three laps before Logano's teammate Denny Hamlin hooked to the rear bumper of the No. 20 car and pushed him from outside the top 10 to the top spot. Due to the rain the day before, NASCAR waved a competition caution on lap 20 to check tire wear and so teams could make adjustments. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli called for right-side tires and a slight air pressure adjustment before sending his driver back out on the track in the sixth position.
The majority of the race was constant two and three-wide racing. Logano drafted his way back up to second on lap 70 and the caution waved on lap 76 when Hamlin spun after the top line of cars checked up. It was a close call for Logano, but to err on the side of caution Zipadelli called for a four-tire stop on lap 77. The first multi-car incident occurred on lap 83 and with 100 laps to go Logano was still running in the top 10. The two-car draft continued to prove it was the quickest way around the track, and when Logano's other teammate Kyle Busch got hooked up behind Logano he pushed The Home Depot driver back to the lead on lap 106. Logano returned the favor and drafted Busch to the lead on lap 111.
The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates continued to push each other to the front of the field and on lap 120 the field was finally running single file. It took just 15 laps before three-wide racing resumed. A round of green-flag stops began on lap 146 and Logano brought The Home Depot Toyota down pit road on lap 147 for right side tires and fuel. Logano lost the draft on lap 163 and fell back to the 24th position. He caught what the team thought was a lucky break when the No. 71 brought out the caution flag on lap 176.
Racing resumed on lap 179 and Logano was back in the lead pack. He missed the multi-car incident on lap 182 to move up to 18th, but was not as fortunate on the lap 188 restart that ended The Home Depot Team's day. The 36th-place finish dropped Logano to 16th in the point standings, 81 points out of 12th. Logano's teammates Hamlin and Busch finished fourth and ninth respectively.
