DARLINGTON, S.C. – While Joey Logano didn’t earn his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, the Team Penske driver did finish second and delivered back-to-back top-five finishes.
In a year where the Team Penske plaza has seemed to struggle for speed, the organization shined on Sunday with two of their three cars. With teammate Brad Keselowski sweeping the weekend by winning Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity Series race, the Cup powerhouse stepped up to the plate and execute.
“We had a good car,” said Logano. “We were like a third-place car and whether it was a short run or a long run it didn’t really matter. We made some adjustments there at the end to take off a little bit better, but I didn’t get by the 42 in time to try to run down the 2.
“We were just matching lap times, so I couldn’t catch him enough. I was just hoping lap traffic would screw it up enough to try to catch him, but one-two for Team Penske, that’s pretty cool. Brad sweeping the weekend, that’s awesome for him to do at Darlington. That’s no easy feat, so congratulations to them.”
When it comes to Logano and his Todd Gordon-led team, the energy comes when its needed most.
Winning earlier this year at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway positioned the team back into the Playoffs picture after sitting on the sidelines last year, however, the team’s presence at the front throughout has led to speculation whether or not they can carry themselves not only through the opening round – but even another shot at the Championship four.
Finishing fourth at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago, Logano carried some momentum into the final off-weekend of the year and then capitalized in one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events.
Logano qualified his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Fusion eighth Saturday afternoon in a throwback scheme to former Cup winner Steve Park – and throughout the 267-lap race, Logano played a major role at the front.
Keeping the team’s strategy in check kept Logano alive and in contention for the win, but Logano said afterward he needed to be in the lead in order to win – as the first-place car had complete control of the race.
“I just keep going back to two restarts to the end,” added Logano. “I didn’t have the best of restarts and if I got to second our pit stop was good enough to get us to the lead and give us control and that’s what ultimately won Brad the race was his pit crew that got him out in the lead.
“Once he was out in the lead, he was gonna be hard to catch. I had a lot of fun on the Throwback Weekend. It’s really cool to drive Steve Park’s car and give it a good run. I wish I got to celebrate with him in Victory Lane and hold up the 1 that he used to drive.”
With Indianapolis on the docket next weekend, Logano said it will be important for his No. 22 team to showcase speed – but he’ll take the momentum from the last two weekends as an equal.
Knowing Bristol, Darlington and Indianapolis are all three completely different venues, Logano said it’s hard to predict what will happen at the Brickyard – but with the morale boost up, it definitely gives his team the upper hand.
“It’s so hard to say,” sounded Logano. “When you think of Bristol and Darlington and then Indy, they’re very unique racetracks. There’s not many of them like it. Which makes them really cool. This part of the schedule, when you think of these three weeks, you’ve got three of the most badass racetracks there is, so that’s pretty neat to be a part of. You know, so I think some of the speed is there.
“I do think confidence transfers over, no matter what the type of racetrack is, if you can run well, that momentum and confidence transfers over to any racetrack you go to.
“That’s why you see those big three, they’re fast at road courses, they’re fast at short tracks, they’re fast at mile and a halfs, superspeedways, it doesn’t matter, because they’re so full of themselves, as they should be. They win a lot of races. They’re confident.
“You know, I think, like I said, you get some runs like this and you get something to build off of, especially with the pit crews the way they did tonight, that’s a really good start.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
