Joey Logano / No. 20 Home Depot Toyota NSCS Preview
Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
No. 20 Home Depot Toyota News & Notes:
· LOOKING FOR ANOTHER WIN AT HOME TRACK: New Hampshire Motor Speedway is not only Joey Logano’s home track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, but the one-mile facility also holds a special place in Logano’s heart. In 2008, Logano made his first-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start when he drove the No. 96 for Hall of Fame Racing at New Hampshire. The youngster then earned his first-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at the “Magic Mile” coming back in his rookie season of 2009. However, if you ask Logano, what he wants most is to win another Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire and to do it by taking the checkered flag after 300 laps. Logano’s win in 2009, which made him the youngest ever Sprint Cup Series winner at age 19, came in an event that was shortened by rain in which Logano and his Home Depot team played pit strategy perfectly. When Logano crossed the finish line at Pocono to win his second Sprint Cup Series event earlier this season, he famously said how finally felt to win one the right way, with “no stupid rain.”
· LAST “OFF WEEKEND” FOR LOGANO: Some weekends, Joey Logano stays super busy. Other weekends not so much. Most of that relies on his NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule for any particular track. With this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Kentucky Speedway, it will mark the last weekend as a non-companion race with the Sprint Cup Series. It will also mark the last weekend that Logano will be off from Nationwide Series competition and be focused solely on the Sprint Cup Series. And that is fine with Logano, who prefers when he’s running the Nationwide Series with the additional track time. Already this year, Logano has six wins, four poles and eight top-fives and 12 top-10s in just 16 Nationwide Series starts.
· NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS BEEN FULL OF HIGHS AND LOWS: Joey’s rookie season victory at the “Magic Mile” hasn’t been his only successful run at the track. In fact, Logano has also recorded finishes of fourth (summer 2011) and ninth (summer 2010) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to give him three top-10 finishes in eight career starts. In his last two visits to the track, Logano has come away with 14th-place finishes each time, including in the summer race earlier this season. Qualifying at NHMS has been Logano’s biggest challenge, with his best-career start coming in the summer race of 2010, when he started 11th.
· WEEKEND APPEARANCES: Joey will make two appearances while at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Sylvania 300. On Sunday morning, he will sign autographs for his fans at his merchandise trailer beginning at 10:00 am. Logano will then make an appearance at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sylvania hospitality chalet at 10:30 am on behalf of Toyota. All of Logano’s weekend and public appearances can be found on his official website, www.joeylogano.com.
· RACE INFO: The Sylvania 300 at at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH; 1-mile oval) is set for Sunday, September 23rd at 1pm ET. Watch and listen live on ESPN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and PRN Radio starting at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Logano’s 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
27
1
2
9
1
190
$3,134,943
12.1
17.8
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
138
2
16
38
4
337
$17,395,813
17.4
18.9
Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats at Richmond International Raceway:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
8
1
2
3
0
15
$1,006,940
24.4
16.3
From the Cockpit:
Joey Logano Quotes: “I feel like we have nine races left this season and that we have nine races left to possibly go after another win or two. And I’m really encouraged as to how we have been running as of late. In Chicago, we were strong all weekend long. We practiced in the top-10, qualified in the top-10 and raced all day long in the top-10. Now, I think we can build on that and keep that momentum going. I really think that there are two or three race tracks left on the schedule that we have a good shot at winning. We just need to keep working hard and know that just because we are not a part of the Chase that we can still go out there and compete for wins.
“A lot of people ask me about New Hampshire since I won here back in 2009. But this is not one of my favorite tracks. I’ve always just kind of struggled at this track. It’s just the type of place that you have to hit the setup on just right and if you aren’t just right, then you can have a long day. Earlier this year, we fought a tight center and loose off condition which just seems to be a common problem at this track if your car isn’t handling just like you’d want. We’ve got some notes to go off of and I’m pretty confident we will have an even better starting spot when we unload. It would be a lot of fun to go out there and win our second New Hampshire race.”
No. 20 Home Depot Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing Team:
Driver – Joey Logano Crew Chief – Jason Ratcliff Car Chief – Jason Shapiro Race Engineer – Jacob Canter Engineer – Mike Lorusso Spotter – Rocky Ryan
Shock Specialist – Dusty Boyd Mechanic – Scott Geerts Mechanic – Todd Foster Mechanic – Leo Thorsen Tire Specialist – Jerold Shires Engine Tuner – Mike Johnson
Tires – Bill Byrne Truck Driver – Thomas “Thumper” McCrimmon Truck Driver – Scott “Scooter” Crowell
Jackman – Jason Tate Gasman – John Eicher Front Tire Changer – John Royer Front Tire Carrier – Joe Crossen
Rear Tire Changer – Chris Taylor Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen
