Joey Logano and The Home Depot Team earned their first pole position of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season at Infineon Raceway and followed it up with a top-10 run at the 1.99-mile road course on Sunday. It was Logano’s first top 10 at a road course in his three-year Sprint Cup career, and his second career pole. Logano took the checkered flag in the sixth position and is now tied for the 22nd position in the Sprint Cup driver standings and is just 12 points out of the top 20.

“I am extremely happy with our finish in The Home Depot Toyota,” said Logano. “Especially when you look over the last few finishes here. I felt like there are some things we could have done better — could have kept myself out of trouble a little better. Besides that, the four tire call there at the end by Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) was definitely a good move to get a good solid finish out of here. It was a great weekend all around after getting the pole and winning yesterday (K & N Pro Series West race). I can’t tell you how bad I needed something like this. It’s definitely going to help our season. I think it’s definitely going to give us some momentum.”

Logano and The Home Depot Team tested at Road Atlanta a few weeks ago in preparation for the race, and took road-course ace Max Papis with them. Papis went over notes with Logano prior to the race and could be heard over the radio several times coaching Logano from turn seven.

“Max (Papis) is the man,” said Logano. “He is awesome and helped out a ton. Everything he does and says just makes total sense to me. He’s just done this for so long he knows exactly what to do out there. Working with another driver for this race helped, I was able to really relate to what he was saying. We worked hard together at the test and here, hard work pays off all the time.”

Logano led the 43-car field to the green flag and set sail around the course. Logano led for the first five laps before being passed by teammate Denny Hamlin. He told Zipadelli the brakes were really sensitive and locking up all of a sudden. Logano dropped back to 12th by lap 16 and thought he may have flat spotted the tires while braking because the car was now extremely tight. Logano brought the car down pit road on lap 19 for the first round of green-flag stops and the team made a chassis adjustment and fitted the No. 20 car with tires. When stops were complete, Logano was in the 19th position.

Logano worked his way back up to the 13th position as cars were beating and banging on one another on the track. Logano avoided a few close calls but made contact with the No. 7 car of Robby Gordon on lap 53. The Home Depot Toyota received front end damage, but was not bad enough for Zipadelli to call Logano down pit road for repairs. The caution flag waved on lap 60 and Zipadeli told Logano to remain on the track. Although the car was now tight, the team did not want to give up track position and restarted 12th on lap 64.

Green flag pit stops began around lap 72 and Logano brought the car down pit road on lap 75 for two chassis adjustments, fuel and tires. When the caution flag waved on lap 87 for a spin by Tony Stewart, Logano was now 16th. Zipadelli and Logano decided fresh tires would be important in the position they were in, so he brought The Home Depot Toyota down pit road for fresh Goodyear’s and a track bar adjustment. Racing resumed on lap 91 with Logano in the 21st position while most of the cars in front of Logano did not pit.

Logano took full advantage of the new tires and drove back into the top 15 on lap 96 with 14 laps remaining in the race. He continued his march through the field and passed the No. 29 car on lap 103 for 10th. Racing got dicey at the front of the field but Logano was able to pick up four more spots before the checkered flag waved to finish sixth. Logano’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin finished 11th and 37th respectively.

Logano and The Home Depot Team head back to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway next weekend for the Coke Zero 400. The race airs on Saturday night on TNT Television and MRN radio at 7:30 PM EDT.

Joey Logano Toyota/Save Mart 350 Photos

Related Articles

• Toyota/Save Mart 350 Saturday Practice Results
• Joey Logano wins the Pole at Infineon Raceway!
• Toyota/Save Mart 350 Friday Practice Results
• Joey Logano Infineon Raceway Preview

Joey Logano Toyota/Save Mart 350 Videos