The Chronicle - January 2012 The Chronicle - May 2014 21

by Dave Burnham
For the seventh-straight race,
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
had a different race winner when
Joey Logano drove the Team Pen-
ske No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil/Hertz
Ford Fusion to victory in the rain-
delayed Duck Commander 500 at
Texas Motor Speedway April 7.
It feels good to be back in
Victory Lane. Im stoked, said a
jubilant Logano.
I felt very condent com-
ing into this race. Todd [Gordon,
Loganos crew chief] made some
good adjustments throughout the
day. We were able to get good
track position. Clean air means ev-
erything in these cars. Heck yeah!
continued Logano.
The Middletown native
grabbed the lead after the nal
round of green ag pit stops with
33 laps to go. He looked set to take
the checkered ag with an almost
two-second lead over teammate
Brad Keselowski. Then, as Lo-
gano charged toward the last lap,
the caution ags came out when a
tire on Kurt Buschs car exploded,
sending debris over the track and
setting up a tense nish.
When youve got 40-some-
thing laps after the last pit stop
and a pretty sizable lead, really,
all youre thinking is, Wheres
the white ag? Wheres the white
ag? Logano said.
Brad [Keselowski] was able
to catch us a little bit and then you
go into turn one and you see the
41 [Kurt Busch] up against the
wall and youre like, Please, no
caution. Please, no caution. And,
of course, boom, it comes out and
youre like, Youve got to be kid-
ding me.
Logano said his rst reaction
at that moment was to scream and
yell with frustration, but he knew
he had to stay calm and give Todd
Gordon the information he needed
to make the right pit call.
I was so mad. I didnt tell
him what the car did until I was
coming down pit road, said Lo-
gano. He made a last-minute
decision to put fuel in it because
I heard, No fuel, no fuel. I was
saying, No, no, no. He made the
right decision to put fuel in the car
and give me a better balance for
what I needed. The guys made the
money stop and put us out as the
rst car with four [new] tires on.
Jeff Gordon and Brian Vick-
ers both took two tires to make up
the front row at the restart. Know-
ing he was going to start third, Lo-
gano planned his attack based on
Kyle Busch being on his outside.
I know hes very aggressive
on restarts, said Logano. My
number-one goal at that point was
try to gure out how he didnt
get clean air and get to the front.
I had to make sure he didnt stick
it three-wide, get in the middle, or
do something like that.
When the green ag waved,
Logano fell into line in second
place behind race leader Jeff Gor-
don. Getting a great run out of turn
four as he came to the white ag,
Logano passed Gordon and pow-
ered away to a 0.476-second vic-
tory at the checkered ag for his
rst win of 2014.
Logano led the most laps in
the race, pacing the eld three
times for 108 laps. The win was
an important one as it virtually
locks Logano into the 2014 Chase
for the Sprint Cup. The victory
was Loganos rst since August
of last season at Michigan and the
fourth of his Sprint Cup career. It
also was his rst Sprint Cup win
at Texas Motor Speed-
way, making him the
youngest Sprint Cup
Series winner in TMS
history at 23 years, 10
months and 14 days.
Logano quali-
ed the No. 22 Shell-
Pennzoil/Hertz Ford Fusion in
10th for the race. By making the
nal round in knockout qualifying
on Friday, Logano is now the only
driver to reach the
nal round in each
qualifying session
held this season.
At the green
ag, the No. 22
Ford needed more
drive coming out
of the turns, but de-
spite the handling
issues, Logano was
able to keep posi-
tion near the top 10
during the rst 50
laps.
By lap 60 he
was in the top 10
despite still strug-
gling with handling
issues. Todd Gor-
don continued to
make wedge and
air pressure adjust-
ments as the sun
continued to shine,
altering the track
conditions.
Drive off the corners was Lo-
ganos biggest issue for the rest of
the afternoon. However, the Team
Penske driver continued to move
his way through the eld, and he
hit the top ve on lap 160.
Loganos over-the-wall pit
crew had strong pit stops all af-
ternoon and Logano consistently
emerged from pit lane ahead of
his competitors. By lap 200, Lo-
gano had raced his way into the
top three.
Logano found himself run-
ning second beside Keselowski on
a lap 226 restart. The two drivers
raced side-by-side into turn one
and Logano took the lead.
Its been a heck of a season
so far, Logano said. I feel like
the Shell-Pennzoil/Hertz Ford
could have been to Victory Lane
a couple of times, and were -
nally here. I feel like we gave
away a couple already this season.
This car is fast. Were here to be
a force all year. Im so excited I
cant even speak right now. Im
stoked. Its super cool. Texas Mo-
tor Speedway is one of the coolest
race tracks. The rst time I came
here I got my butt handed to me
really bad, so to win at this track
means a lot.
Logano Reigns Supreme in Texas Shoot-Out
Middletowns Joey Logano takes the checkered ag to win the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speed-
way April 7. Photo: NASCAR Media.
The post-race celebrations begin for Joey Logano. Photo: NASCAR Media.
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Mark your calendars now for the downtowns second
annual Memorial Car Show set for the traditional Memorial
Day, Thursday, May 30. It will run from 4 to 8 p.m.
This year we expect even more cars, trucks. jeeps and
people ~ and more salutes to our men and women of the U.S.
Military. A $5 entry fee will benet local non-prot The Jen-
sen Fund. If you are planning to attend Cromwells Memo-
rial Day service and parade that evening, why not stop down
before or after the parade passes by?
Cromwell Car Show