Joey Logano’s season to date had been nothing short of excruciating entering Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400.
While speed was eminent with two pole positions and another front row start through the first six races, having that speed translate in the race has been another story.
The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford sat 22nd in the standings prior to the 400-lap bout at the .75-mile D-shaped oval.
However, a clean run on Easter Sunday in his 550th NASCAR Cup Series start turned into a potentially momentum-shifting runner-up result for the two-time Cup Series champion.
The lead was in sight on an overtime restart, however Logano felt he didn’t get a solid restart to challenge eventual winner Denny Hamlin.
“I really wanted to pressure them down into one and force them to work up Truex, but I spun my tires there just trying to stay with them and that ultimately cost me to be close enough to do something,” Logano said.
“I don’t know. It feels good to be towards the front again. We haven’t had a run like that in a while, but it also stings to be that close and not capitalize on the win. I guess I have mixed emotions.
“We had a really good car, a car that was capable of winning if we were in the front, but we didn’t execute everywhere else good enough to get there.”
Notably, Logano’s team, and other Ford-branded teams, biggest issue so far this season has been dialing in the new Mustang Dark Horse.
There may be work still to be done, but Logano feels the No. 22 team is beginning to solve the equation.
“This is definitely the hardest start to a season we’ve had, but last week we started scratching and clawing and got a little bit of momentum through the last three races and ultimately get to here to where we were in the hunt again,” Logano said.
“It feels good. It’s Richmond. It’s a unique race track. It’s our best race track as a team, so we expect to run good here. I don’t know if this completely takes us out of the deep end, but I think ultimately it’s a good momentum-builder for sure.”