NASCAR Cup Martinsville
Logano "pretty stoked" with second after eventful race
For much of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Joey Logano couldn’t even see the front of field, let alone think about contending for the win.
Jim Utter
Edited: Apr 17, 2023, 4:36 PM
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Logano was at a disadvantage from the beginning, having to start the race from the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments after his Penske team discovered a water leak in his No. 22 Ford on Sunday morning.
With passing at a premium, Logano even fell a lap down in the first stage and remained mired in the middle of pack for a majority of the race.
However, Logano saw his fortunes turn late in the race, thanks to back-to-back cautions that followed a round of green-flag pit stops that flipped race strategy on its head.
When many lead-lap cars pit under caution on Lap 346, Logano and three others elected to remain on the track and he led the way on the restart on Lap 355.
Logano even drove away from the field for several laps until Larson, who took two new tires on his last stop, finally caught him. After a side-by-side battle, Larson emerged with the lead with 29 laps to go and drove away to a 4.142-second win.
“At one point in the race I would have been just happy to finish on the lead lap,” Logano said. “Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) did a good job of getting some good changes to the (car) to where it got competitive.
“We just needed track position. Was able to stay out and get a lucky caution there during a green flag cycle. Stayed out again when everyone pitted and put us on the front row and a shot to win the race.”
Logano, who admits he does not like to lose, wasn’t overly upset with ultimately falling short on the victory.
“I tried holding off Larson as long as I could. I didn’t have a fighting chance there. He drove away from me so quick, but he was pretty patient,” he said. “I knew I was going to get bumped. That was the only way he was going to go by me was he was going to have to get physical. Nothing wrong with that.
“Overall, there’s days when you are mad about second. Today is not one of those. Today is when you are pretty stoked that you finished a little better than I thought we were going to.”
Logano runner-up finish continued and up-and-down season for the reigning champion. He already has a win and five top-10 finishes in the first nine races but he’s also finished 28th or worse three times.
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