Joey Logano and The Home Depot Team earned their fifth consecutive top-10 finish, and third straight top-five finish with a third-place run at Phoenix International Raceway. Logano battled track position late in the race to rally back and finish in the top five. He remains 16th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, just 17 points out of 15th heading to the final race of the 2010 season in Miami next weekend.

“The Home Depot guys did awesome today,” said Logano. “Our last few finishes have been crazy – we’ve been seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth and third in a row, so that’s pretty crazy. The guys did a good job with the Home Depot Toyota today. We had a lot of things that went wrong during the race. We didn’t start the race very well at all. We fell back around 20th but everyone kept their head in the game and did a good job. We fought pit road, the 13 (Casey Mears) was pitting right in front of us and we would get boxed in there a couple times and lost track position. The biggest thing we fought at the end of the race was track position. We were every bit as good to run up there. Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) and the guys did an awesome job. It’s fun to be up here. We’re trying to get 15th in the points. The 39 (Ryan Newman) beat us today, they finished second. But we’re close. We lost as little as possible there. If we finish off the year like this, I’m excited about next year, that’s for sure.”

Logano qualified for the 312-lap race in the 10th position. He started to fall back shortly after the green flag waved complaining of a lack of grip. Midway through the first run, he told crew chief Greg Zipadelli the car was too tight in the center. On the team’s first pit stop following the caution on lap 59, The Home Depot crew made a trackbar and wedge adjustment while fitting the car with fresh tires and packing it full of fuel. Racing resumed on lap 65 with Logano in the 15th position.

Logano dropped back to 23rd following pit stops on lap 102 when he was blocked in the pits by the No. 13 car of Casey Mears. Just 20 laps later the No. 00 car caved in the right front fender of the Home Depot Toyota as Logano was making the pass. The fender stayed off the right front tire, so Logano remained on the track and was 17th at the midway point of the race. Zipadelli called Logano down pit road for a green-flag stop on lap 170 to fix the fender and loosen up the car as he was still battling a tight condition. The yellow flag was finally displayed on lap 222 with The Home Depot Toyota in the 16th position.

The Home Depot team pitted for tires and an additional adjustment to continue to free up the car. Logano remained in the 16th position for the restart on lap 228. The pit call of the day came just seven laps later when the caution waved and Zipadelli called Logano back down pit road for tires and fuel. The Home Depot Team knew it was now within its fuel window to make it to the checkered flag should the race end under green. Racing resumed on lap 239 with Logano now in the 13th position.

Logano battled his way up to the eighth position before the teams that didn’t pit on lap 236 began coming to pit road under green-flag conditions. With five laps remaining in the race, Logano was up to fifth and took the checkered flag in the third position. Logano’s teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished 12th and 13th respectively after pitting for fuel in the closing laps. Logano and the Team are just 17 points out of 15th heading to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend.

Kobalt Tools 500 Practice Results

Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying Results

Kobalt Tools 500 Race Results

Post-Race Interview

Joey Logano Kobalt Tools 500 Photos

What’s the next NASCAR Sprint Cup series race for Joey Logano?

The next race will be at the Homestead-Miami Speedway located in Homestead, Florida on November 7, 2010 for the Ford 400.