The Home Depot Team Finishes 21st at NHMS
September 20, 2009- 1. Mark Martin, No. 5 Chevrolet
- 2. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- 3. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 21. Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
LOUDON, N.H. (September 20, 2009) – The Home Depot Team and its driver Joey Logano were looking for a repeat trip to victory lane on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS), but the fast 1-mile track was tough on the No. 20 team and its rookie. Logano was involved in an incident during the Sylvania 300 and eventually fell a lap down to the leader, but battled back to finish in the 21st position and on the lead lap.
"This place is just hard to get a hold of, it's really difficult," said Logano. "I know it's my home track and all but I am struggling to get it figured out. These cars are just a handful here. You can't run The Home Depot Toyota around the same line you would in a Camping World car or Nationwide car because it's got so much motor and you're trying to compromise something to get the drive off the corner. It's the guys that aren't compromising anything that are fast. You're trying to get all you can on restarts because then the field equals out so quickly. It's tough. Overall I guess you'd call it an okay day."
Logano started from the 33rd position and battled a tight through the center and loose off condition almost immediately. The tight condition made it difficult for the driver to put the car in position for a good run off the corner and down the long straight-aways. At lap 65 he was running in the 30th position when the caution waved after the No. 9 car lost its motor. He pitted on lap 67 for a chassis adjustment, four tires and fuel. The Home Depot crew's quick stop moved Logano up to 23rd for the restart on lap 74.
The caution flag waved just 10 laps later and crew chief Greg Zipadelli told the driver to remain on the track with the lead cars. Unfortunately everyone behind the No. 20 Toyota pitted for fresh tires which proved to be too much to overcome. Despite restarting 17th on lap 92, Logano quickly dropped back on older tires and was 29th when the caution finally waved again on lap 141 for debris. The double-file restarts were tense during the race, and after racing resumed on lap 165 Logano was soon in the middle of three-wide racing. He clipped the No. 19 car causing it to spin on lap 168. The Home Depot Toyota suffered minor damage that took the team just two quick pit stops to repair.
Logano fell back to 28th following the incident but never gave up. As the team's adjustments began to make the car better on exit, he was still struggling with the center of the corner. After a round of green-flag pit stops, Logano fell a lap down to the leader with 30 laps remaining in the race. The yellow flag was displayed on lap 276 with Logano the second car a lap down. He put himself in position to get his lap back on the restart, and after the No.00 made contact with the No. 88 to bring the caution out on lap 283 he was back on the lead lap in the 24th position. Over the closing laps of the 300-mile race he picked up three additional spots to finish in the 21st spot.
Logano maintained 19th position in the point standings and earned rookie of the race honors for the 20th time this season. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished second and fifth respectively.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Dover International Speedway next weekend. The race is scheduled for a 2 p.m. EDT start on Sunday on ABC with live coverage beginning at 1 p.m. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will provide the live radio broadcast of the event.
