Joey Logano had a decent dress rehearsal for Phoenix with a seventh at Martinsville. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
MARTINSVILLE, Virginia – Following Joey Logano’s victory at Las Vegas, his mission, if he chose to accept it, was scoring solid frontrunning finishes ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (Sunday, Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC).
After a somewhat puzzling 18th at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the 32-year-old Middletown, Connecticut native approached last Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway with maintaining the momentum that kicked off during the start of this year’s Playoffs.
Following a 12th place qualifying effort, it was a slow but steady climb to the top 10. Finishing 12th in Stage 1, Logano drove to a seventh place finish in Stage 2.
Although Logano never led a lap at the 0.526-mile paperclip shaped track, he earned a workmanlike seventh place result.
All things considered, much like his car, the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion left Martinsville in solid shape.
“Our missions were to make sure that we keep our team together, don’t make any enemies, keep momentum. We did all that,” Logano said.
Moreover, Logano was able to keep one of his potential title challengers at bay.
Namely, he staved off Denny Hamlin, his teammate during his Joe Gibbs Racing tenure from 2008 to 2012.
“Mission is accomplished on what we were trying to do,” he remarked. “If we can win the race, that would have been great. But we found ourselves in the position where we were the spot for Denny if he got in. If he passed me, he’s getting in, if he doesn’t.
“Last place you want to be in one of these things is be the guy that needs to be knocked out of the way for him to make it. A unique spot. Interesting way to race here, for sure.”
Perhaps one storyline that did not get much attention during Sunday’s race was the condition of Logano’s car during a caution period. While the body of his unmistakable No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang was relatively intact, there was a bit of an interesting situation inside the car.
“I don’t believe the rest of the car caught on fire,” he recalled. “We caught it pretty early. Starting to smoke under caution, I was starting to see that. I was trying to shake the car enough to put it out, get the rubber out of there, whatever. It catches fire.”
As Logano and his Team Penske crewmates discern what occurred, it may have come down to bits of rubber serving as the culprit behind the fire.
Logano did not want to be like Katniss Everdeen in catching fire. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
“When you have a tire like we had today that rubbers on the racetrack, which is a good thing, it marbles up, chunks of rubber get caught up in the car, get a piece up in the header or something like that, it catches on fire,” he shared. “In the rocker, stuff like that, it’s a little different.
“I don’t know enough details to comment on it honestly yet. I know there was a piece of rubber on fire. Got it out. Kept going.”
Fortunately for Logano, he did not have to ponder about the problem had it persisted throughout the 500-lap race.
“What would have happened if I ran 50 laps like that? Is the whole car going to catch on fire? I don’t know. I can’t answer that yet,” he mused.
Before Logano can consider the battles ahead for his second Cup championship, like his peers, he is wondering about Ross Chastain’s wallriding ways into the Championship 4 field.
Specifically, Logano does not dismiss the possibility of drivers pulling a similar move in the future unless the sanctioning body considers enforcing rules to police such possibilities.
“It can happen anywhere,” he said. “We’ve seen it happen at Darlington. It has nothing to do with the composite body. The body actually looks pretty good on the thing after doing that. The car doesn’t look that bad.
“You never need it to run another lap once you commit to do that. You can do that with a steel body, too, because you’re never going to do it again so… Yeah, body had nothing to do with it.”
