Perseverance Earns The Home Depot Team Top-15 Finish at Fontana
October 11, 2009- 1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 2. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet
- 3. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 14. Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
FONTANA, Calif. (Oct. 11, 2009) – Joey Logano and The Home Depot Team's "never-give-up attitude" earned them a 14th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The No. 20 Toyota Camry got extremely loose on two consecutive long green-flag runs that dropped it as far back as 31st in the running order and a lap down to the leader, only to have the team rally and finish on the lead lap in the 14th position.
"That was a very strange race," said Logano. "The Home Depot Toyota started out really good and was almost perfectly balanced, then all of a sudden on one run it was so loose I couldn't drive and just kept dropping back in the pack. Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) and the team made huge changes and it still didn't really get any better. Finally, they made another giant adjustment that tightened it up. Once we finally got our lap back with like 10 to go, my spotter got me through that huge wreck and we were able to come out 14th. Just goes to show you, never give up because anything can happen."
Logano and the team had one of their best qualifying efforts of the season on Friday, and in return The Home Depot Toyota sat sixth on the grid for the start of the 500-mile race on Sunday. During the first run of the day, Logano told Zipadelli the car was loose on exit, but turned well in the center. He slid back to 13th before green-flag pit stops began on lap 40. The team changed four tires and made a trackbar adjustment before sending Logano back out onto the track. The sun made its first appearance of the day around lap 50, and nine laps later the first caution of the day waved. After another quick adjustment, Logano was able to work his way back into the top 10 when the yellow was displayed again on lap 80. Logano brought the car down pit road for service again, but things started to go downhill for the team.
Racing resumed on lap 86 with Logano in 11th. He quickly told Zipadelli the car was loose everywhere and had no idea why. He fell back to 24th before the team could adjust on the car on lap 118. The Home Depot Team thought Logano may have had a bad set of tires, but still made a significant change to the car on the pit stop to tighten it up. Racing got back underway on lap 121 with Logano in the 21st position. He called back in to tell the team the car was still extremely loose. After a round of green flag stops on lap 157, Logano found himself a lap down to the leader in 22rd position on lap 180.
Zipadelli called for another huge change that included the removal of a spring rubber during the team's pit stop. Logano was now 31st and still a lap down for the restart on lap 189. Logano's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin brought out the caution shortly after taking the green flag. He had moved up to 27th and was sitting the first car a lap down. The team hoped for a quick caution flag to get its lap back, but instead found themselves with another long green-flag run and pit stops. The good news was Logano was now tight and the team could adjust back on The Home Depot Toyota.
It wasn't until lap 239 that Logano and the team were not only in position again for the free pass, but finally caught the caution flag to gets their lap back. With just 10 laps remaining in the race and sitting 25th, fresh tires were going to be an asset for the team when racing resumed on lap 143. It took one lap of side-by-side racing to bring out the caution for a multi-car wreck that also forced NASCAR to red flag the race for clean up. After several minutes, the yellow flag was displayed and Logano was able to see where he would be on the board after avoiding the melee. Zipadelli told Logano to remain on the track, and he restarted the race in 14th with just three laps remaining. The rookie driver was able to hold off his hard-charging competitors to finish the race in the top 15 and as the top rookie.
Logano's teammates Kyle Busch (who got out of the car on the first caution with the flu and was replaced by David Gilliland) and Hamlin finished 24th and 37th respectively. Logano remains 20th in the Sprint Cup Series standings and continues to lead the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.
The Home Depot Team competes in its back yard at Charlotte Motor Speedway next Saturday. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and PRN Radio.
