Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway Race Report
May 16, 2010- 1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- 2. Jeff Burton, No. 31 Chevrolet
- 3. Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Ford
- 10. Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
Top 10 For The Home Depot Team Redemption at The Monster Mile
Dover, Del. (May 16, 2010) – Joey Logano and The Home Depot Team put the last race at Dover International Speedway behind them, kept all four tires on the ground and brought home a top-10 finish on Sunday. Logano ran as high as third, but was hit on pit road by the No. 33 car and had to pit again for repairs. The 10th-place effort moved the team up one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings to 18th, just 102 points out of the 12th position.
"We'll take a top 10 after the last couple weeks we've had with the Home Depot Toyota," said Logano. "We had a really good car. We drove all the way up to third in the beginning of the race. I thought we were going to be pretty good here. I felt like we didn't adjust to the race track enough. It seemed like every other run we were good. We'd get it close and then I'd say we didn't need that big of a change and now looking back we probably did. We had a top-five car, but once we had the fender knocked in on pit road they had to pull it back out we went back to 17th. We had to fight back for a 10th-place finish, but we'll take it after the last couple of weeks."
Logano qualified The Home Depot Toyota 18th on Friday and the team focused on long runs in practice on Saturday. The green-flag waved for the Autism Speaks 400 and after 25 laps of racing Logano told The Home Depot Team the car was inconsistent and tight in the center after starting off loose. He worked his way up to 15th before the caution flag waved on lap 53. The team made an air pressure adjustment before fitting the No. 20 Toyota with fresh tires. The adjustment appeared to be just what Logano needed as he drove into the top 10 on lap 90 and was sitting in the fifth position on lap 123 of 400.
The long caution-free run meant green-flag pit stops for the field. Logano brought The Home Depot Toyota down pit road for service on lap 132 for four tires and no adjustments. When pit stops had cycled through, Logano was up to the fourth position with only 18 cars remaining on the lead lap. He then took over the third spot on lap 163. When the caution waved on lap 164, the team pitted for a slight air pressure adjustment, tires and fuel. Despite sitting in third on lap 170, Logano told crew chief Greg Zipadelli the car was now "edgy and really loose." He dropped back to seventh at the midpoint of the race and when the yellow flag was displayed on lap 224 he was running ninth.
Logano would continue to run in the top 10 and told Zipadelli on lap 270 the car was getting back to where it needed to be. Unfortunately during pit stops on lap 287, Logano pulled out of his pit and was driving down pit road when the No. 33 of Clint Bowyer hit him in the left front fender. Bowyer was penalized because he also left the pits with his jack still under his car while Logano had to pit again to get the fender pulled off his tire. Instead of restarting from the ninth spot, Logano was now 17th after pitting a second time.
Logano did his best to work his way back up through the field with just 100 laps remaining in the race. The car was still a little loose, but he passed the cars of Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon on his march back up to 10th on lap 367. Logano was able to hold off a hard-charging Gordon in the closing laps to earn the top-10 finish, his best at Dover. His Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Kyle Busch took the checkered flag, while Denny Hamlin finished fourth. It was the first time all three JGR cars finished in the top 10 since Logano took over The Home Depot Toyota.
Logano and The Home Depot Team will participate in the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway next Saturday night, while the No. 20 pit crew will also compete in the Pit Crew Challenge on Wednesday of this week.
