The Lugnut Report: Joey Logano's Quiet Day Leads to Second Place Finish



























Joey Logano has only had two starts at Martinsville Speedway, and the rookie no more 19 year old is showing steady improvements.

Monday's Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 was absolutely one of those days.

Logano was barely noticable during the first 300 laps of the race, steadily and quietly battling his way through the top ten.

The Home Depot driver failed to crack the top five, and seemed to be stuck racing for positions sixth through eighth. It was only until six laps until the finish that Logano made his way into the fifth position.

Then things began to get interesting.

Logano's teammate Denny Hamlin made a pit stop from the lead on lap 493. After the lap 496 restart and following caution, Hamlin was counting on his young teammate to let him down to the bottom line so he could charge to the front.

Logano made a hole for Hamlin in front of him and behind the No. 17 of Matt Kenseth. The No. 20 Home Depot Toyota followed his teammate and kept former seven time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon at bay. While Hamlin would drive his way to Victory Lane, Logano basked in the glory of his second place finish.

"That was awesome!" Logano exclaimed about the green white checkered finish. "That was really cool, and the big deal for me with the Home Depot Toyota was starting on the bottom.

"It was kind of beating and banging, it was a ton of fun! After the last couple of weeks to get a top five back up here, it's so much fun to race up here."

Later in the media center, the young gun reiterated the excitement of that final restart.

"It was crazy. We knew it was going to be crazy before we went green."

The next time JoLo will be on track is this coming Saturday at Nashville, where he'll compete in the Nationwide Series Nashville 300. You can watch that race beginning at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN.


For Patti Rodisch's Lugnut Report on Jeff Gordon, click here.
The Lugnut Report: Joey Logano's Quiet Day Leads to Second Place Finish The Lugnut Report: Joey Logano's Quiet Day Leads to Second Place Finish Reviewed by Jen Preston on Monday, March 29, 2010 Rating: 5