Logano Wins Toyota All-Star Showdown
Irwindale, CA (February 1, 2010): Joey Logano drove to his second career NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown victory Saturday night driving the No. 25 Home Depot Toyota, a car prepared by Fadden Racing. Logano led 171 laps en route to the victory by holding off rookie Sergio Pena in the final 25-lap segment. Logano joins Matt Kobyluck as the only drivers to ever win the event more than once.
“It feels awesome,” said car owner Mike Olsen. “It’s huge for us. We felt we had a good car. It wasn’t the fastest thing out there. The 4 car was pretty quick, but Joey did a good job of doing what he had to do to win. I couldn’t be happier.”
Logano started the race from the second position and led all but one lap during the first segment, which ended at lap 98 when an accident brought the race under caution. During that segment, Logano was pressured by the No. 4 of Sergio Pena, but Logano closed the door on all of his challenges and kept the Home Depot Toyota out front.
Fadden Racing’s Harry Norcross worked together with Logano’s Nationwide Series crew chief Kevin Kidd to improve the car in the entry of the corner, where Pena was able to gain some ground on him.
The race resumed at lap 99, but Pena was able to get by Logano at lap 106 and pull away to a comfortable distance. A caution came out at lap 130 and tightened the field back up again, and Logano didn’t hesitate when the green dropped. He flew to the front and continued to get pressure from Pena as the laps ticked off.
“Running quick laps is half the battle – it’s finding little things, like restarts, that wins races. It definitely paid off for me tonight,” said Logano.
Pena reclaimed the lead at lap 177 and stayed out front until the second mandatory break at lap 200. The tight, side-by-side racing had Fadden crew members fixing some of the front end fender damage before sending Logano out for the final 25-lap dash to the checkers.
Logano went straight to the front in his Home Depot Toyota when racing resumed, but Pena, again, challenged Logano by getting up alongside him. They were side-by-side when caution came out with 21 laps to go.
The race went back to green at lap 212 with Logano showing his mastery of restarts, but a red flag was brought out to preserve laps when an accident occurred with only ten laps to go.
On the restart, Logano went to the front while Pena dealt with Matt Kobyluck, who moved into second place. It took two laps for Pena to reclaim the position – enough time for Logano to pull out to a comfortable distance and take the checkers .584 seconds ahead of Pena.
“We won the race on restarts. Mike Olsen and the guys put together a real good piece for me. I had told myself that if I was in the top-five in the last 25 laps that I would have a shot at the win,” said Logano. “I’m happy that (Fadden Racing) gave me the opportunity to do this. I didn’t know what I was going to have coming into this deal, but we unloaded off the truck decent and we had fun.”