No. 20 Home Depot Toyota News & Notes:

• OH SO CLOSE AT MARTINSVILLE: Joey Logano has tasted victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the past, winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during his rookie season of 2009. But Logano came “oh-so-close” to a win at Martinsville Speedway in the spring race of 2010, finishing second to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. Logano was running in the top-five late and took advantage of contact between two other cars to grab second. Unfortunately, laps ran out and Logano had to settle for the runner-up position. It was Logano’s career-best finish at the half-mile track. That same season, Logano finished sixth in the fall event at Martinsville. Logano also has “just misses” to the top-10, coming home 12th and 13th in two other starts. His career-best qualifying effort at Martinsville is fourth, which he did in the spring race last season.
• QUALIFYING STRONG FOR LOGANO THIS SEASON: Logano has always been a pretty strong qualifier in his NASCAR career (as evident by his ninth-place standing on the all-time career pole list in the Nationwide Series) and the 21-year-old has stepped up his game in 2012. Not counting the season-opening Daytona 500 and its unique qualifying format, Logano has qualified in the top-10 in each of the other four races this season. His average start position of 9.2 is fifth-best among all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers this season.
• ROLLER COASTER OF A WEEKEND IN CALIFORNIA: Logano experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during the California race weekend. On Saturday, Logano won his 10th-career NASCAR Nationwide Series event leading a race-high 93 of the 150 laps. It was also Joe Gibbs Racing’s eighth-straight NNS win at Auto Club Speedway. On Sunday, Logano fought a tight car early in the Auto Club 400 and fell back through the field. The lack of a single caution flag didn’t allow time for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team to make a lot of adjustments. Then Logano was caught speeding on pit road, forcing him to come back through the pits for a pass-through penalty and putting him a lap down. Eventually, the race was called because of rain and Logano had to settle for a 24th-place finish.
• LOOKING TO REBOUND IN POINTS: For the first time this season, Logano fell out of the top-10 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings following California. Logano is now 13th in the standings (tied with Carl Edwards). However, Logano runs strong at several of the upcoming tracks, including Richmond, Talladega and Charlotte, which could help him get back into the top-10 in the points. Even in 13th, Logano is still just 20 points out of fifth-place in the standings.
• SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE: Logano got a lot of congratulations for his Nationwide Series win on Twitter, including accolades from actor Kal Penn, football player Hank Baskett, racing star Morgan Lucas and even from fellow drivers Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. You can find Joey on Twitter @jlogano, on Facebook at facebook.com/joeylogano20 and on YouTube at youtube.com/joeyloganoracing. Home Depot Racing can be found on Twitter @HomeDepotRacing
• RACE INFO: The Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA; .5-mile short track) is set for Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 12:30 pm ET. That race will be broadcast on FOX (TV) and MRN (radio).

Logano’s 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:

Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:

Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats at Martinsville Speedway:

From the Cockpit:

Joey Logano Quotes: “I’m heading into Martinsville hoping to turn things around after last weekend in California. We had a lot of momentum at the beginning of the year and we ran into some bad luck at Bristol and Vegas where we had fast cars but just didn’t have the luck and the finishes that we should have. Then after winning the Nationwide race on Saturday in California, I had pretty high hopes for Sunday but we were just off right from the beginning. We really struggled and then I put us in even a bigger hole by getting caught speeding on pit road. We made the car better during our stops, but we just never got it to where it was in practice. I was probably one of the few people who really wanted to the rain to clear and to go back racing, because that was going to give us our shot at getting back on the lead lap and getting a better finish than we ultimately got.

“Martinsville has always been a pretty good track for me. A couple of years ago, we finished top-10 in both races there. I always feel like we have a good Home Depot Toyota when we get there. Like Bristol, it’s all about staying out of trouble and trying to finish the race with all your fenders and on the lead lap. If you do that, you can almost be assured of a good finish and have the chance to race for the win at the end. I’ve come close to winning there so I know what it’s like to be that close. I’m ready to get back on the short track and try and make up for the points we lost at California and get ourselves back in a Chase position.”

Jason Ratcliff Quotes:  “I haven’t been to Martinsville since the Nationwide Series cars raced there in 2006.  It’s a track that Joe Gibbs Racing has done well at in the past and I’m really looking forward to a good weekend.  Just like any short track, it can be intense and can turn out to be a survival game at the end of the day.  I believe Joey and the No. 20 Home Depot team are up for the challenge.  Joey has a great attitude going into the weekend; the kind of attitude you need to have going into a race like Martinsville.  So I think the race should be successful and should be fun.”

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 BoydMechanic – 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 – Chris Taylor
Rear Tire Changer – Joe Crossen
Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen

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Rain Shortens California Event Leaving Logano 24th

Post Race Highlights:

• Logano qualified eighth for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. It was Logano’s fourth-straight top-10 qualifying run to start the season.
• When the green flag flew, Logano instantly started talking of an extremely tight racecar. Logano said the Dollar General Toyota was tight in the center and off, resulting in a lack of straightaway speed. Logano fell back into the 18th position until the car started to get better.
• A 100-plus lap green flag run meant several green-flag pit stops for crew chief Jason Ratcliff to try and make the Dollar General Toyota better. Each time, the car improved, but the tight condition persisted.
• On lap 70 following the second green-flag pit stop, Logano was caught speeding on pit road and had to come back and serve a pass-through penalty. That resulting penalty dropped Logano a lap down in the 26th position.
• Logano was able to claw back up to 21st before rain began to move into the area and the car continued to improve.
• During the caution for rain, Ratcliff brought Logano down pit road for four tires and fuel, hoping the race would go back green. Unfortunately, the rain persisted and NASCAR was forced to call the event complete after just 129 of the 200 scheduled laps. Logano ended up in the 24th position.
• With his 24th-place run, Logano fell to 13th unofficially in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“We struggled all day today with the Dollar General Toyota. The car was so tight right at the start of the race I couldn’t hardly drive it. It was plowing through the corners and I couldn’t get a good drive off, which would kill my straightaway speed. On a track like this, that kills you. We fell like a rock there until we were able to try and make adjustments. Each green flag stop, we did a little more and more adjustments, but never could get the car to handle right.

“The pit road speeding penalty was all my fault. I still think I was under it according to my tach, but that they said we were over so we were over. There is nothing you can do about that. That really put us behind and put us a lap down and with the long green flag run, there was no making that up. I am really frustrated about it, but there is no time to dwell on things. You just need to put it behind you and move on. We have a great team and we can get right back to where we were on the track and in the point standings. Onto Martinsville now.”

Joey Logano Auto Club 400 Video

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

Joey Logano Auto Club 400 Friday Practice Results

Joey Logano Auto Club 400 Qualifying Results

Joey Logano Auto Club 400 Photos

Saturday, March 24, 2012 Sessions

• Auto Club 400 practice on SPEED at 12:30 pm
• Auto Club 400 final practice on SPEED at 3:30 pm

Sunday, March 25, 2012 Session

• Auto Club 400 on FOX at 2:30 pm

All times posted above are eastern time.

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No. 20 Dollar General Toyota News & Notes:

• WELCOME BACK DOLLAR GENERAL: Last week at Bristol Motor Speedway, drivers chose their own songs to be introduced to during driver introductions. If Auto Club Speedway was doing the same thing this week, Logano’s obvious choice would be the song “Black and Yellow.” That’s because this weekend, Dollar General and its bright black and yellow paint scheme will return to the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the second of 12 scheduled events where Dollar General will serve as the primary sponsor for Logano. Dollar General has been a mainstay sponsor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the last several seasons, but moved over to the Joe Gibbs Racing operation this season to expand their program. In addition to the 12 races in the Cup Series, Dollar General will also serve as the primary sponsor for Brian Scott in the entire Nationwide Series schedule and 10 additional Nationwide Series events with Denny Hamlin and Logano behind the wheel.
• STILL A TOP-10 SPRINT CUP SERIES DRIVER: Logano might not have the finishes he’s hoped for the last couple of weeks, but his consistency has kept the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota in the top-10 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. Going into this season, Logano has never been in the top-10 in points longer than two weeks in a row. Following his 16th-place finish at Bristol, Logano has now spent all four weeks of the 2012 season in the top-10 in points. Logano currently sits ninth in the standings, just 31 points out of the top-spot and just 11 points out of fifth-place.
• BUSY WEEK FOR LOGANO IN CALI: As the Sprint Cup Series heads to the West Coast, things will heat up both on the track and off. And Logano will have plenty of things to do. First, Logano will be taking part in “Auto Club Speedway Day LA” on Wednesday, an event put on by Auto Club Speedway in order to drive interest/excitement around race weekend. Logano will also participate in the annual Toyota Motorsports Day at Toyota’s California headquarters on Thursday. Joey will also take in some sights while in LA, including a visit to the “Happy Madison” studios (founded by movie star Adam Sandler), located at the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City.
• SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE: This week, Logano was active on Twitter talking about his new puppy Isla, posting photos and several comments on her antics. In fact, Isla founded her own Twitter page and quickly gained over 2,000 followers. Logano also continued his long but friendly foosball feud with roommate Coleman Pressley. You can find Joey on Twitter @jlogano, on Facebook at facebook.com/joeylogano20 and on YouTube at youtube.com/joeyloganoracing. Dollar General Racing can be found on Twitter @DGRacing.
• THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 DOLLAR GENERAL TOYOTA: Dollar General vendor partners Hanes, Hefty Reynolds Wrap, Totino’s, Bounce and Pine Sol will be featured on Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.
• THE RACE: The Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, CA; 2-mile oval) is set for Sunday afternoon, March 25, 2012. The race will be broadcast on FOX at 2:30 p.m. ET, with radio coverage on MRN

Logano’s 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:

Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:

Logano’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats Auto Club Speedway:

From the Cockpit:

Joey Logano Quotes: “I’m really looking forward to getting to California and seeing how our No. 20 Dollar General Toyota will be. We came out of Vegas with a lot of work to do on our intermediate track package across the board at Joe Gibbs Racing and we had a lot of meetings following that race to figure stuff out. We worked hard and I know that the crew chiefs, engineers and everyone else there really spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and come up with new ideas. There is a lot of new stuff we are going to try this weekend on our team and I’m pretty pumped to see how it works. It’s always great when our entire organization puts their heads together and comes up with some new ideas. Our teams are all moving in the right direction and hopefully we’ll see that in the results this weekend.

“Our last two weeks have been a struggle, but we’ve been able to stay out of trouble and keep our car in one piece and manage to stay right there in the top-10 in points, which is what we are looking for. Even when we have off weeks like we’ve had the last couple, we want to make the most out of it, limit our mistakes and let those off weekends still have a positive impact on the point standings. The last two weeks, we’ve had a better car than our results show. I guess that is both good and bad. It’s good, because we have cars that have been fast and great every weekend, but it’s bad because we know we should have better finishes than the results show. What most people forget is that we are only four races into this new relationship between me and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief). We’ve grown together a lot through these first four races and I see it going even better as we continue on.”

From the Pit Box:

Jason Ratcliff Quotes: “Our main focus going into this weekend at California is going to be to really explore some new things on our intermediate package. We weren’t pleased with how the Las Vegas race went, so we have some new ideas and we are going to try some new things during the weekend and hope they work out like we thing they are going to. I think we have a good car that we are taking there so I’m looking forward to it. As an organization, we put our heads together and came up with a lot of new ideas. Hopefully we will get a lot of time in practice to explore things.”

No. 20 Dollar General 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 – Chris Taylor
Rear Tire Changer – Joe Crossen
Rear Tire Carrier – Eric Groen

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Long Green Flag Runs Result in 16th-Place Finish for Logano at Bristol

Post-Race Highlights:

• Logano qualified ninth for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was his third-straight top-10 start of the 2012 season.
• When the green flag dropped for the event on Sunday, Logano quickly settled into a top-10 position and rode for the first part of the race, missing an early multi-car accident that took out several of the top contenders.
• All afternoon long, Logano fought a “tight center” condition on the Home Depot Toyota. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff made a number of minor adjustments to try and get the car better as the day went on, including wedge and air adjustments and taking a rubber out of the right rear spring.
• The tight condition continued during a near 200-lap green flag run, which limited the team’s ability to bring the car to pit road and adjust on the Home Depot Toyota. During that time frame, Logano dropped a lap off the pace.
• A few cautions during the final portion of the race allowed Logano to work himself into the “Lucky Dog” position. However, with Logano riding in the free pass spot, another caution never came.
• Logano was as low as 20th late, but was able to drive back up to 16th before the checkers flew, again topping the Joe Gibbs Racing contingent in Bristol.
• With the 16th-place finish, Logano unofficially remains ninth in the Sprint Cup Series point standings just 11 points out of the top-five and 31 points out of the lead.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“This is not what we were expecting coming out of Bristol. We knew we had a better Home Depot Toyota than what our results show today. We just got a little behind on the handling and never had a chance to come in and make the adjustments that we needed too. It’s not too often you see such long green flag runs here at Bristol and that was when we were struggling the most and we needed to be able to come in and make some adjustments. The car was really tight and I couldn’t get back to the gas and that is a killer here. The cautions just never came.

“By the end, we had made the car better and worked our way into the Lucky Dog position, but again we never got a caution. This car was better than 16th today. I really feel we should have finished 10th or so because we were passing some of the guys that were running 10th, 11th and 12th there at the end. That would have been a big help in the point standings. But I guess you need to look on the bright side of things. We came out of Bristol with a car in one-piece and a solid finish and we are still top-10 in the points. We just need to work better at having a car that handles early in the race. It’s still early and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and I are still learning together. We will keep getting better and I still think good things are coming.”

Joey Logano Food City 500 Photos

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Joey Logano Food City 500 Video

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