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

Joey Logano Kobalt Tools 400 Friday Practice Results

Joey Logano Kobalt Tools 400 Qualifying Results

How was your qualifying lap?

“Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and the guys gave me an awesome Dollar General Toyota, especially in qualifying trim. We haven’t really worked much in race trim yet. It balances really good. I just left a little bit out there in three and four. I thought it was the pole coming across the line. They’ve done a good job here. I love this track and it’s awesome to have Dollar General on the car and to give them a really good race.”

Can you feel the bumps on the race track?

“The bumps are getting bad — really bad. We’re just trying to get through them and struggled in practice trying to get through the bumps. That will be priority number one when it comes to practice tomorrow.”

Joey Logano Kobalt Tools 400 Photos

Saturday, March 10, 2012 Sessions

• Kobalt Tools 400 practice on SPEED at 12:30 pm
• Kobalt Tools 400 final practice on SPEED at 3 pm

Sunday, March 11, 2012 Session

• Kobalt Tools 400 on FOX at 3 pm

All times posted above are eastern time.

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No. 20 Dollar General Toyota News & Notes:

• DOLLAR GENERAL’S CUP SERIES DEBUT: The Las Vegas weekend will be huge for new Joe Gibbs Racing sponsor Dollar General. This weekend, DG will make its Sprint Cup Series debut as primary sponsor, taking its yellow and black colors to the No. 20 Toyota driven by 21-year-old Joey Logano. It will be the first of 12 scheduled events where DG will sponsor the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the Sprint Cup Series. 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.
• LOGANO FEATURED IN NASCAR TELECONFERENCE: Each week, NASCAR choose one driver to be featured in its weekly national Teleconference for all media members and on the back of two strong top-10 runs and an eighth-place position in the point standings, Logano will be this week’s featured driver. The Teleconference is open to all media members and is a way for those outlets not able to make it to the track on a weekly basis a chance to talk to some of the biggest story makers in NASCAR.
• A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: Coming off of a strong ninth-place run at Daytona International Speedway, Logano backed it up last Sunday in Phoenix with a 10th-place finish in the Subway Fresh Fit 500, making him one of only five drivers who have notched top-10 finishes in the first two races of the season. Logano was a constant top-10 threat in Phoenix before a late-race caution and pit stop put him back in traffic. Logano couldn’t get his No. 20 Toyota out of dirty air and was mired in about 13th position, but the pit stop proved the right call, and Logano was able to slide into the top-10 as other drivers who hadn’t pitted began to run out of gas under green. Logano now sits eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.
• VIVA LAS VEGAS: Statistically, Las Vegas Motor Speedway is Logano’s third-best track on the Sprint Cup Series schedule. He’s got an average start of 10.7 (second best of all tracks, including two-straight sixth-place starts) and an average finish of 14.0. Logano’s average finish could actually be better if it weren’t for problems. Last season, Logano was running solidly in the top-five before a tire penalty on pit road with just 25 laps to go put Logano at the back of the field and he finished 23rd.
• SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE: Twitter has become a big sensation in NASCAR and Joey has taken to it with grace. In Phoenix, Logano spent a lot of time answering questions from fans. He also asked fans for suggestions for his theme song for the Bristol event. Since the start of the season, Logano has nearly doubled his number of followers, which now sits at just over 61,000. His goal is to get to 100,000 followers by the end of the season and he is now halfway to his goal. 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 Pine-Sol, Hanes, Betty Crocker, Hefty Reynolds Wrap and Gain will be highlighted on JGR’s No. 20 Toyota Camry this weekend at Vegas.
• THE RACE: The Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, NV; 1.5-mile oval) is set for Sunday afternoon, March 11, 2012. The race will be broadcast on FOX at 2:30 p.m. ET, with radio coverage on PRN

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 Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

From the Cockpit:

Joey Logano Quotes: “This is a big weekend for the No. 20 team for a couple of reasons. First, we have a lot of momentum riding from the first two races of the year and we want to keep that up. Getting through the first five races of the year is very important and coming out of them with solid finishes and a good spot in the point standings. We’ve got the first two under our belt and we want to keep it going coming out of Vegas. It’s been a really good track for me and I’ve always run well there. It’s just a track I’ve taken to and like a lot.

“It’s also a big weekend because this will be our first for Dollar General as a primary sponsor on the Cup side. It’s always big when you have a new sponsor come into the sport. They’ve been around on the Nationwide Series side for a while, but for a sponsor to come in and step up at the Cup level is huge. Rick (Dreiling, Dollar General’s CEO) is a huge NASCAR fan as are Dollar General customers. I can think of nothing better than to have the Dollar General car up front and maybe even put it in Victory Lane.”

From the Pit Box:

Jason Ratcliff Quotes: “I am very pleased with how the first two races have gone so far. We had a strong car at Daytona; strong enough to win the race. So you always have to be happy when you come out of there with a good finish and a car in one piece. And Phoenix started slow, but we made a lot of gains all weekend long and came out of there with a top-10. I was excited how team stayed after it and how they worked on the car. We were in it all day long, we just lost track position. Hopefully going into this weekend, it builds momentum. It’s something we can build on. Joey is excited and fairly confident right now. We have, as a team, what it takes to go up there and be competing for top-fives, top-10s and even to win races. That is our goal, we want to win races.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing Machines:

• PRIMARY CAR INFO: The Dollar General team will take chassis #316 to Las Vegas.
• BACK-UP CAR: Chassis #323 will serve as the team’s backup car.

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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Post Race Highlights:

• Logano qualified ninth for Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix. Logano’s qualifying position led all of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Kyle Busch started 12th and Denny Hamlin started 13th.
• Logano ran in the top-15 for the first 100 laps of the event. He briefly broke into the top-10 on lap 22 and then again on lap 66. In between, the Home Depot pit crew gave Logano lightning quick pit stops, gaining him positions in the pits each time.
• On lap 120, Logano moved into ninth-place following a restart and spent the next 110 laps a constant presence in the top-10. During that stint, Logano ran as high as fifth on a couple of different occasions.
• Crew chief Jason Ratcliff, in only his second race as a full-time Sprint Cup Series crew chief, made small and calculated adjustments on the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota all afternoon long, mostly with air pressure and wedge adjustments. Most of the day, Logano was fighting a tight condition in the middle of the corners.
• Ratcliff called Logano onto pit road on lap 248 to ensure the team the ability to make it the rest of the way on fuel while a number of drivers stayed on the track, choosing to gamble on their fuel mileage.
• While stuck in traffic, Logano struggled with the handle of the Home Depot Toyota in “dirty air,” but the call to pit for fuel proved to be the right one, as several cars ran out of gas in the final handful of laps.
• Logano crossed the finish line in the 10th position, giving him his second-straight top-10 finish to start the year. JGR teammate Denny Hamlin won the event.
• Unofficially, Logano now sits eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, just 19 points out of the lead.

Logano’s Post-Race Thoughts:

“It was a good day for the Home Depot Toyota. We had a solid car all afternoon long. In fact, I really think we had a car that easily could have finished better than we did, but we just got caught without track position there late in the race and couldn’t go anywhere when we were stuck back in traffic. These cars are so different when you are out front or have clean air as opposed to when you have dirty air and you are stuck in a pack. Even if you are really fast, you can struggle when you are stuck behind cars. But in the end, it was the right call to come in and get fuel on that last pit stop. We didn’t need to get stuck out there trying to save fuel or take the chance of running out. We are really looking to get through these first five races or so with a lot of momentum and a good spot in the point standings. Then we can start to take some chances.

“I’m really happy with our team two races into the season. This race really was the first true test of the new team, the communication between Jason (Ratcliff) and me and our whole new attitude. Daytona is a different track all in its own. Phoenix here is a place where you try and have a good handle on the car, have good communication and get down to business. I think we did all of that this weekend. Our communication was great. Jason made just the right calls on the stops to make the car handle a little better and better each time and the pit crew was great on pit road. All-in-all, it was a really good day for the Home Depot Toyota.

“Another top-10 finish to start the season is huge. We have been talking about building momentum and that is what these first two races does. It builds my confidence and it builds the confidence in the team and it builds Jason’s confidence. It really gives us an advantage going into Las Vegas that we know we are a team and I’m a driver capable of running in the top-five and top-10 every week. We can win some races this year and that’s our plan.”

Joey Logano Subway Fresh Fit 500 Photos

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Joey Logano Subway Fresh Fit 500 Videos

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Joey Logano was the fastest of the three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Results from today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying session at Phoenix International Raceway.

Joey Logano Subway Fresh Fit 500 Photos

Are you pleased with your qualifying run?

“That’s not bad. We’ll take it. It’s just weird out there. The track is nowhere near what it was like yesterday. You just go out there and it is so icy out there — no grip. Chatter in the front. Chatter in the back. You have to be on that edge — but if you go over it you’ll be chasing it and hoping not to hit the wall and forgetting about speed at that point. It’s just a very, very, very fine line right now out there.”

Why do you think the track changed?

“Because it’s a weird race track. I don’t know why. Ever since they repaved it — it’s weird. I don’t understand why the track is one way when we go to sleep and the next day it’s completely different.”

Are you set for Sunday’s race?

“Well, you just never know. You never know what we are going to have. We worked really hard in practice and went down a couple wrong roads and brought it back. So, we kind of ran out of time in practice. I don’t know what I’m going to have. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Sunday, March 4, 2012 Session

• Subway Fresh Fit 500 on FOX at 2:30 pm ET

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A total of two practice sessions were scheduled today for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix International Raceway. Results from today’s practice sessions are posted below.

Joey Logano Subway Fresh Fit 500 Photos

Saturday, March 3, 2012 Session

• Subway Fresh Fit 500 qualifying on SPEED at 2:30 pm

Sunday, March 4, 2012 Session

• Subway Fresh Fit 500 on FOX at 2:30 pm

All times posted above are eastern time.

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