Joey Logano rallied from finishes of 32nd and 26th in Stages 1 and 2 to nearly winning the NOCO 400 at Martinsville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. – Normally, a driver like Joey Logano would not be totally joyous about placing runner-up in a race.
Of course, the objective in every race is to win and garner the points, glory and momentum that comes from a two to three hour NASCAR Cup Series struggle. Then again, if a driver and team had an afternoon like Logano and his No. 22 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang team, fielded by Team Penske, a second place finish seems like a victory.
Officially, Logano qualified 15th in the 36-car field. However, the No. 22 team identified a leak in the water tank that needed to be addressed, sending the two-time and defending Cup champion to the rear of the field for an unapproved adjustment.
Certainly, the 32-year-old Middletown, Connecticut native knows his way around the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway as a past winner in 2018. Moreover, he had nine top fives and 16 top 10 results in his prior 28 starts.
From jump street, it was a tremendous struggle for the mild mannered racer, only mustering a 32nd place result in Stage 1.
Taking the Lucky Dog on Lap 82, Stage 2 was more of the same, abysmal struggle, finishing a meager 26th and seemingly mired in the back of the field.
The crafty Logano and innovative Wolfe parlayed pit strategies to dig themselves out of a frustrating Sunday afternoon at Martinsville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
However, Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe elected to stay out while the majority of lead lap drivers pitted during a green flag, pit stop cycle starting on Lap 287.
Suddenly, Logano ascended from the back of the field to the top-10 before a Lap 302 caution for Anthony Alfredo’s loose right rear tire changed the complexity of Sunday’s NOCO 400.
For the remainder of the race, Logano ran inside the top-six, a prospect that seemed so unlikely in the first two stages of the race. Additionally, a Lap 342 caution for JJ Yeley’s accident in Turn 3 prompted a plethora of pit strategies.
In this case, Logano and Wolfe opted for track position above all else, climbing from sixth to the lead for the final restart on Lap 355.
As determined as Logano was to stave off a hard charging Kyle Larson, it was a difficult task particularly with the latter having fresher right side tires.
The two most recent defending Cup champions duked it out for a trio of laps, trading paint but racing with respect.
On Lap 371, Larson passed Logano off Turn 2 to take the lead, essentially winning the race as the latter came home with an improbable runner-up.
All things considered, it was almost like a victory for the typically optimistic Logano. He turned to his team and racecraft on what may have been an otherwise frustrating Sunday afternoon.
“After the second stage, I would have been stoked about second place,” Logano said. “I knew the only way (Larson) was gonna get by me is he was gonna have to get physical. I had to make the car wide. I had very little chance to win it when he had the two tires. He just got through traffic too quick for us, but, overall, it still was the right call to get us on the front row.”
High stakes pressure in stock car racing can be quelled with teamwork to nearly making the dream work at the paperclip shaped track. Despite coming up a position short of another grandfather clock, Logano acknowledged how he benefited from strategy calls and well-timed caution flags.
The record will show that Logano made a lot of passes, but he lamented over the on-track product following Sunday’s race. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
“You never know, you have a caution at the end and some things can happen, but, overall, I’m very proud of the Verizon Mustang team,” he said. “We were not good. We went down a lap two times throughout the race and got one lucky dog and one lucky caution and then just some good strategy from Paul (Wolfe) and getting the car better.
“We were awful to start and he did a good job of getting me competitive at least and putting me in position to do something there at the end. There are days when you’re mad about second, most of the time you are, but days like today you’re pretty happy to see the front at the end.”
While Logano was mostly content with his second place finish, he lamented over the progress needed to improve the on-track product at Martinsville, particularly with being able to make quality passes in a race.
“I’m pretty sure everybody kind of saw it. It’s really challenging to pass still,” Logano said. It’s kind of interesting how some tracks it’s definitely improved it and at some tracks it hasn’t. Richmond was a much better race. Here at Martinsville, I’d say we probably have to go back to the drawing board to try and find something else to help racing a little bit more, but part of it, too, you’ve got understand is that all of the cars run the same speed.
“They gave us a box with cars that are all identical. Well, we’re all gonna end up running that same speed for the most part. When all the cars are within a tenth of each other, you can’t pass. There’s got to be more speed differential through the field.”
