The Home Depot Team Finishes 19th in Texas
November 8, 2009- 1. Kurt Busch, No. 2 Dodge
- 2. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
- 3. Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Ford
- 19. Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 8, 2009) – Joey Logano and the No. 20 Home Depot Team scored a 19th-place finish in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon despite being thwarted by fuel mileage strategy in the final laps of the race. The race came down to who had the best fuel mileage and The Home Depot Team attempted the gamble to stretch their fuel mileage. They came up two laps short but Logano made it onto pit road quick enough to refuel and return to the track for a 19th-place finish.
"This is just a tough joint for me," Logano said after the race. "Everyone did a good job. We worked hard all day. We got caught down a lap one time and never had the opportunity to get the lucky dog back. This is just such a tough track and we did better this time here than we did in the spring but there’s still work to do. The good thing was that as the track cooled off and got more grip, we started getting more speed and by the end of the race our speeds weren’t that bad. We were just far behind from during the day when the sun was out. We knew we were going to be short on fuel at the end and I did some things to help save but it wasn’t enough. We were pretty much a 19th-place car all day."
It was an exciting start to the Dickies 500 for Logano and The Home Depot Racing team. Racing in the 14th position on only lap two Logano had a front row seat to the day’s most exciting accident when championship point leader Jimmie Johnson was hit by Sam Hornish Jr. and crashed into the inside wall. Logano had several close calls as the cars kept spinning up in front of him but he escaped unscathed and only lost one position in the middle of all the action.
From that point on, it was a battle to get the best balance on the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. Logano fought the delicate balance between loose and tight-handling conditions throughout the entire race. It seemed that when the team made adjustments to correct a tight condition, the adjustments only created loose handling conditions at another part of the track. When adjustments were made to fix a loose-handling condition, then the Home Depot Toyota handled to the tight side. That was the theme all race for Team Home Depot.
The driver of The Home Depot Toyota put forth a valiant effort throughout the first half of the race. A small number of cautions and a fast race pace is what put the Home Depot Team down a lap just past the halfway point in the race. Despite losing a lap, Logano continued to compete in the 20th to 23rd position as the race wound down. After the last round of green flag pit stops, it was determined the majority of the field would either need to stop again for fuel or gamble with fuel mileage strategy. The Home Depot team elected to gamble and crew chief Greg Zipadelli started directing Logano to save fuel with 35 laps to go in the race.
As the laps wound down, Logano did what he could to save fuel but came on the radio with two laps to go to report that he had lost fuel pressure. Fortunately, he was in the middle of turns three and four and was able to quickly enter pit road. The majority of competitors were facing the same issues and as a result Logano was able to remain in the top 20 as the race came to a close.
Logano’s teammate Kyle Busch put forth a dominating effort in the race at Texas and was leading until having to stop for fuel with only three laps to go in the race. Fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin managed to stretch his fuel to finish second in Texas.
Logano remains 19th in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. He is 37 points out of 18th place and 77 points out of 17th position.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels west one last time for the 2009 season with next weekend’s Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race is scheduled for a 3:15 p.m. EST start. ABC will provide live television coverage while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
