Joey Logano Takes Checkers at Auto Club Speedway, Grabs 10th-Career NASCAR Nationwide Series Win

Post Race Highlights:

• Joey Logano won the pole for Saturday’s race in convincing fashion, clocking in nearly fourth-tenths of a second faster than the second-place qualifier. The pole was Logano’s second-straight in 2012 (he won the pole last weekend in Bristol) and the 18th of his career. That puts him in a tie for ninth on the all-time list of NASCAR Nationwide Series pole winners. It was also his third-career pole at Auto Club Speedway.
• When the green-flag flew, Logano jumped out to an early lead. Logano would pace the field for the first 26 laps before getting passed by Brad Keselowski.
• Logano and the No. 18 Trans-Lux team fought a loose off condition early. Crew chief Adam Stevens made several minor adjustments on the car all afternoon long through air pressure, wedge and track bar adjustments.
• Logano had to fend off a number of different drivers for the top spot all afternoon long, including Elliot Sadler, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Logano led eight different times during the race for a total of 92 of the race’s 150 laps.
• The No. 18 Trans-Lux pit crew were on their game all afternoon long, getting Logano out front stop after stop.
• Coming off the final caution flag, Logano restarted the race in third position. However, as soon as the green-flag waved, Logano made quick work of the top-two cars, grabbing the lead for the final time on lap 139. Logano was never challenged over the final 11 laps, cruising to the victory.
• The win was the 10th of Logano’s Nationwide Series career and his first since last season at Daytona International Speedway. The win was Logano’s second-career at Auto Club Speedway.
• The win also gave Joe Gibbs Racing eight-straight victories at Auto Club Speedway in NNS competition.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“It feels so good to finally get back to Victory Lane. Man, I can’t even tell you how good this feels. I feel like we should have won one if not two Nationwide Series races already this season. I felt like we had Daytona won coming to the checkers and we had the best car at Bristol and just got caught behind on a bad set of tires. Today, we weren’t going to let anything get in our way. We had the best car and we were going to get this Trans-Lux Toyota in Victory Lane and that is exactly what we did. Our car was absolutely awesome today; the best out there. So to finally end up in Victory Lane is amazing.

“That was a great race out there today. At least it was from my vantage point, so I hope the fans loved it. It felt like we would build a huge lead and then we would get a caution and have a heck of a battle with some different cars. Brad (Keselowski), Justin (Allgaier) , Kyle (Busch) and Ricky (Stenhouse) all made me work for it today. They gave it their best shots and had some great battles. Our car wasn’t great to take off, but the longer the runs would go, the better we would get. So even though there were a few times where we fell back to third and a couple of seconds back, I never worried about it. Our car just kept getting better and better and we would run them down. The restarts were wild. We had some crazy restarts out there today.

“There at the end, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made a couple of minor adjustments and made the call for four tires and our crew got me out in third. They did a great job all day long. I knew having four tires and knowing the guys in front of me didn’t have any, all we needed to do was get by them and just run as hard as possible. That is exactly how it worked out. We were able to get by the 2 (Sadler) and just pull out to a big lead. I was counting down the laps after that. Once I crossed the line and knew it had it, I let loose on the radio. It just feels so good to win one of these races. Hopefully, we can get several more this year.”

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Only one practice session was scheduled today for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Auto Club Speedway. Results from today’s sessions, along with photos are posted below.

Joey Logano Royal Purple 300 Final Practice Results

Joey Logano Royal Purple 300 Final Practice Interview

Joey Logano Royal Purple 300 Photos

Saturday, March 24, 2012 Sessions

• Ford EcoBoost 300 qualifying on SPEED at 1:30 pm
• Ford EcoBoost 300 on ESPN2 at 5 pm

All times posted above are eastern time.

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No. 18 Trans-Lux Toyota News & Notes:

• FASTEST CAR DOESN’T ALWAYS WIN: Last week, few people will argue that Joey Logano and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team weren’t the best combination on the track at Bristol Motor Speedway. But like anything else, luck plays a big role in the outcome to races and a bad set of tires halfway through the event resulted in an eventual fourth-place finish. Logano captured the pole for the Bristol event (his 17th-career pole, 11th on the all-time list) and led a race-high 119 laps on two different occasions. But a bad set of tires halfway through the event dropped Logano to eighth when the team final got a chance to pit with just 25 laps to go. Over the final laps, Logano was once again the fastest car on the track, but didn’t have enough laps to catch the leaders, climbing from eighth to fourth before the checkers flew.
• WELCOME TO THE TEAM TRANS-LUX: Trans-Lux Corporation will be the featured sponsor on this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Auto Club Speedway. Trans-Lux is a 90-year-old company with a new vision to be the premier supplier of digital display solutions for the financial, sports and entertainment, gaming, leasing and myriad markets where digital signage is a viable business tool. Since 1920, Trans-Lux Corporation has supplied innovative indoor and outdoor electronic display products and services that provide up-to-the-second, critical information and promotional messages – in graphic, animation, video and text formats — from data feeds, networks or PC-driven software. Today, Trans-Lux offers the most extensive selection of LED digital display solutions available, and its capabilities encompass the entire product development cycle including concept, design, layout, prototype, modification and production. Rigorous inspection and testing throughout all phases of the manufacturing process ensure optimal operation and functionality upon installation. Trans-Lux can build displays to almost any specification.
• STATS HAVE IT FOR CALIFORNIA: Statistically, Auto Club Speedway ranks among the top-five for Joey in both terms of starting and finishing positions. Logano’s average start at the 2-mile track is a strong 3.5, which includes two pole positions (fall 2009, spring 2010) while his average finishing position is 4.5 (third best of all tracks Logano has competed at more than once), which includes a win in the fall of 2009. In fact, of his six career races at Auto Club Speedway, Logano’s worst finish is an impressive seventh.
• ANOTHER SHOT FOR THE 18: For the second week in a row, Logano will be behind the wheel of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but once again he’ll have his normal team, including crew chief Adam Stevens, backing him. The No. 18 team is currently 10th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series owner’s point standings, just 44 points out of the top-spot. Joe Gibbs Racing has won the Nationwide Series Owner’s Championship three of the past four years.
• LEADING LAPS: Last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, Logano led a total of 119 laps en route to his fourth-place finish. Those 119 laps led surpassed the total amount of laps Logano led all of last season in the Nationwide Series (106). In fact, the 119 laps led was the third-highest single-race total of his entire career.
• THE RACE: The Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, CA; 2-mile oval) is set for Saturday afternoon, March 24, 2012. The race will be broadcast on ESPN at 5 p.m. ET, with radio coverage on MRN.

Logano’s 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Season Stats:

Logano’s Career NASCAR Nationwide Series Stats:

Logano’s Career NASCAR Nationwide Series Stats at Auto Club Speedway:

From the Cockpit:

Joey Logano Quotes: “California has always been one of my favorite tracks and not just because we’ve always had a lot of success there in the Joe Gibbs Racing machines. It’s just a fun track to drive with how wide it is and how many different grooves you can run around the place. Depending on how your car is working and handling, you can run the top, the middle, the other middle or the bottom. You really have a lot of options to go wherever you want. And the restarts are always wild. You can make up a lot of spots on the restarts by trying to go where other cars aren’t.

“There is a big difference between the Cup cars and the Nationwide cars at California. With the less horsepower, the draft really comes into play and you try and use that to your advantage. It’s not like a Daytona or Talladega, but you still try and use it to your advantage. It makes for a fun race. Hopefully we have a good package under our Trans-Lux Toyota and we will be able to win a second race out there. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Victory Lane and I’m ready to go back.”

From the Pit Box:

Adam Stevens Quotes: “The tire combination has changed heading into California, which will result in a bit of an unknown for us this weekend. Last year was a bit of a struggle at California and Michigan with our cars, so we worked hard on our mile-and-a-half and two-mile programs over the off season. We had good speed at Las Vegas, which is a 1.5-mile track, so we plan on taking more of that setup out West. California is unique because it is bumpy and has very pronounced paving seams. The key to being fast there is to get through the bumps and over the seams without upsetting the car. With the low horsepower and high drag of the Nationwide Series cars, drafting also comes into play, especially on new tires when you are nearly wide open for a few laps. So aero is very important there.”

No. 18 Trans-Lux Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing Team:

Driver – Joey Logano
Crew Chief – Adam Stevens
Car Chief – Heath Landis
Race Engineer – Curtis Ratzlaff
Shock Specialist – Joel Weidman
Front-end – Dave Rudy
Rear-end – Chris “Yoshi” Jones
Tire Specialist – Glen Wheeler
Engine Tuner – Roger Purcell
Truck Driver – Tim Clancy
Spotter: Rocky Ryan
Jackman – Jason Tate
Gasman – John Eicher
Front Tire Changer – John Royer
Front Tire Carrier – Chris Taylor
Rear Tire Changer – Joe Crossen
Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen

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Joey Logano will be driving the No. 18 Trans-Lux Toyota this weekend in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The car will be raced at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Check out the video below to see the car being wrapped.

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