CONCORD, N.C. – The Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race is notable for frenetic racing and heavy contact between cars, but Joey Logano doesn’t expect anything less in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Did you watch Kansas? It’s the same thing,” Logano asked rhetorically about the most recent Monster Energy Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, where restarts, in particular, were fraught with action.
Like the race at Kansas, most of Sunday’s Coke 600 will be run under the lights, thanks to the evening start time and the length of the event. NASCAR’s 2019 higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package is likely to keep the cars closer together on a hot, slick race track.
“That’s what this rules package has kind of promoted is that we’re so close to each other and to be able to clear someone or to really put yourself in the position you need to sometimes you’ve got to make those aggressive moves, whether it’s an aggressive block–maybe you’re pushing someone by, maybe you find yourself four-wide like they did down the frontstretch,” Logano said, describing a situation in the All-Star race where four cars crossed the start/finish line side-by-side and raced that way until they reached the first corner.
“I didn’t think that was possible, and it really kind of wasn’t, but they got through it somehow down the front straightaway here at Charlotte. A lot of it is the rules package. We’ll see that continue.”
Logano was 14th fastest in Saturday morning’s first Cup practice session and 15th on a hotter track in Happy Hour.
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
