Connecticut’s own Joey Logano relaxes before the “Great American Race.” Photo: NASCAR Media.
Logano’s Eventful Daytona Speedweek
MIDDLETOWN - A new season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action began at Daytona International Speedway Feb. 23 with the running of the 56th annual Daytona 500. After a week of practice and qualifying laps and races, Middletown native Joey Logano started his Team Penske No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion from 35th position in the 43-car field.

       When the green flag was waved by actor Gary Sinise (CSI New York, Forrest Gump) to herald the start of the â€"Great American Race,” Logano began a slow and steady climb to the front of the pack.

       After the first round of scheduled pit stops on lap 24, Logano was sitting in 10th position, but less than 10 laps later, a massive rain storm swept across the 2.5-mile Floridian superspeedway. Band after band of rain engulfed the track, resulting in a six-hour delay, with the race resuming under floodlights at just after 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

       After the restart, Logano consistently ran in the top 10 and, with solid use of the draft, he drove his way to the lead on lap 71 and led for two laps before crew chief Todd Gordon called him to pit lane under green flag conditions for a tire and fuel stop.

       Logano and his Penske teammate Brad Keselowski ran a different pit sequence from the rest of the field for most of the night, which resulted in ever-changing track positions. Once things cycled through, the two Team Penske cars continued to run well among the top five.

       Late in the race, Logano had to narrowly avoid several multi-car accidents as he continued to fight for a top finish. With less than 10 laps remaining Logano pitted for four fresh tires and fuel and, despite restarting in 22nd, he quickly forced his way back into the top 15.

       As Logano came to the checkered flag, he was once again able to avoid a multi-car accident and made a spectacular save at the bottom of the track to cross the line in 11th position. This was Logano’s second top-15 Daytona 500 finish to go along with his ninth-place result for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012.

       â€"We had decent speed,” Logano said. â€"I thought the 2 car [Brad Keselowski] might have been a little faster, but that was a crazy, crazy race at the end. It’s funny because you line up behind Brad and he gets a hole and I don’t, and then you see where he goes and where you’re at. With 10 to go we were all the way in the back. We worked our way up some. At least the fans are excited about the finish, or the winner at least [Dale Earnhardt Jr.]. But the guys did a great job the last two weeks and gave me some decent cars. We survived it. When you start in the back, like 15th or further back on the last restart, you’re pretty sure you’re gonna get caught up in a crash. We came close enough on that last one when I was sideways, but I was able to save it.”

       Logano’s Daytona Speedweek began Saturday, Feb. 15, with the Sprint Unlimited race ,where he started from 11th position in the 17-car field and finished fourth in the event, after leading twice for 11 laps.

       The following day saw the qualifying time trials to determine who would start the 500 in positions one and two and, after his 15th-place qualifying effort, Logano would start eighth in the first of the two Budweiser Duels Feb. 20 to set the rest of the field.

       Logano’s Speedweek took a bad turn during a practice session the day before the Budweiser Duels when he was involved in a multi-car crash that resulted in Parker Kligerman’s Swan Racing Toyota Camry getting lifted off the ground and flipping upside-down.

       The crash began when Logano appeared to hit Matt Kenseth. The collision sent Paul Menard’s car spinning toward the outside wall, where it hit the No. 30 of Westport’s Kligerman, lifting it off the ground and damaging the catch fence. Kligerman’s car slid on its roof for several hundred feet before coming to a stop.

       â€"We were coming off four and the 20 [Kenseth] started making a move to go down,” said Logano. â€"I assumed he was gonna go down there. I had the run, so I was gonna fill that hole and then he started to come back up and I was there.”

       The accident meant that Logano was forced to use a back-up car for his Duel race and would have to drop to the back of the field.

       Logano spent little time at the back and soon raced his way up to fifth. Late in the race, he made a charge toward the front and got to fourth, but got stuck on the bottom lane and shuffled back. Ultimately, Logano got stuck behind Kligerman’s Toyota that was blowing an engine, couldn’t get back to the high lane and fell back to 17th at the finish.

       â€"I just made the wrong move late in the race,” said Logano. â€"We rode for a long time right around seventh or eighth and the only way to get to the front was to jump to the bottom lane and try and go. We got all the way to fourth and there was an opening up top and I should have jumped in line, but I thought we would be able to make up a few more spots. Unfortunately, we just lost momentum and then fell back.”
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