Joey Logano Coca-Cola 600 Results
In one of the craziest finishes in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Joey Logano and The Home Depot Team made a last minute pit call and avoided several cars wrecking and running out of fuel to take the checkered flag in third position on Sunday night. Logano came from the 15th position on the final restart on lap 400 to cross the stripe in third on lap 403 earning the team’s first top-five finish of the season. Logano also gained five spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings and now sits 23rd.
“I’m just happy to catch a break in the race this weekend, as many as we’ve had taken away this year like that,” said Logano. “We had a tough race going and to get a good finish out of this day feels great. Hopefully, this will give us some momentum now. We have some good race tracks coming up too. The entire Home Depot Team needed this and deserved this tonight. They never gave up and look how we finished. I’m really proud of everyone.”
The early stage of the race was tough for Logano and The Home Depot Team. After starting from the 23rd position, Logano struggled with a tight-handling car. Despite several major adjustments on the No.20 Toyota Camry, Logano fell a lap down twice in the first half of the race. The team was able to recover both times and by the mid-point of the scheduled 400-lap race was sitting in the 25th position and on the lead lap.
The team continued to struggle gaining track position but caught their first break of the night on lap 282. Green-flag pit stops began on lap 275 and as Logano was slowing down to hit pit road on lap 282 his spotter called him back up onto the track just before the caution flag waved. He pitted for tires and fuel and returned to the track in the 11th position and ahead of the cars that pitted previously under green. Logano drove as high as sixth on lap 300 before the caution waved again on lap 302. He told crew chief Greg Zipadelli the car was really tight so the team elected to pit and give up the track position. It turned out to be the team’s second break of the race when the tire specialist discovered the right rear tire had a cut in it. The Home Depot Toyota was now back in 22nd for the restart on lap 310.
The dirty air mid-pack made the car difficult to drive and when the caution flag waved on lap 343 crew chiefs along pit road knew they’d be close on fuel making it to lap 400. When Logano pitted on lap 345 Zipadelli immediately told him to “save fuel.” It was a comment Logano heard over the radio several times so he backed off his entry into the corners to gain a little extra fuel mileage. When the yellow flag waved again on lap 396, Zipadelli and the other guys atop the pit boxes had a tough call to make. Logano was running in 20th with only a few cars behind him on the lead lap so Zipadelli called him down pit road for right-side tires and fuel. He returned to the track in the 15th position for the restart on lap 400 while most of the front runners remained on the track. Cars immediately began to run out of fuel when the green flag waved, stacking up the restart and causing several fender benders. Logano’s spotter helped guide him through the melee and when Logano took the white flag he was up to the fifth position. Over the final lap an additional two cars, including race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the final turn, ran out of ethanol and Logano took the checkered flag in the third position.
Logano gained five positions in the standings with the top-three finish and sits 23rd in the standings, 27 points out of the top 20. His teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished 10th and 32nd respectively.
Logano and the team head to Kansas Speedway next weekend for the STP 400. The team uniforms and the No. 20 Toyota Camry will carry a special decal as a tribute to The Home Depot Store #3023 in Joplin, Mo. The NASCAR Sprint Cup race will be broadcast on Sunday on FOX beginning at 1:00 p.m. EDT and on MRN Radio.
| Driver | Car # | Start | Finish | Sponsor | Make | Led | Laps run |
| Kevin Harvick | 29 | 28 | 1 | Budweiser Armed Forces Tribute | Chevrolet | 2 | 402 |
| Joey Logano | 20 | 23 | 3 | The Home Depot | Toyota | 0 | 402 |
Joey Logano Coca-Cola 600 Photos
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Joey Logano Coca-Cola 600 Videos
Congratulations, Joey, on your third place finish. I really think if the race had another two laps, you could have won that race. But you certainly did a great job of avoiding two collisions on the track. Good Job, Joey.