Joey Logano Wins the Dollar General 300
July 15, 2009 by Warren Hayashi
Filed under Racing
A critical choice by crew chief Dave Rogers at the right time propelled NASCAR racer Joey Logano to victory Friday night in the Dollar General 300 Nationwide race held at Chicago’s Chicagoland Speedway. Staying out on the track during the second caution of the Dollar General 300 on Lap 185, Logano was able to pull away from teammate Kyle Busch after the restart on Lap 192 on his old tires and the choice turned out to be the right one. Kyle Busch for his part had taken two fresh tires during the restart and was astonished when Logano was able to pull away on his old rubber, exclaiming over his radio after the restart, “He’s driving away from me!”
Carl Edwards had to settle for sixth in the Dollar General 300 Nationwide Series race
In fact, Logano was running so good he was able to increase his lead and crossed the finish line almost three seconds ahead of Busch, who always seems disappointed when he doesn’t win. Despite finishing second Kyle Busch increased his lead in the Nationwide Series to 192 points over Carl Edwards, who finished sixth in the Dollar General 300. This win is the third of 2009 for Logano on the Nationwide Series and his first on the 1.5 mile oval of Chicagoland Speedway. Logano’s Toyota was definitely handling a little tighter in the corners than his teammates, which allowed him to come off the corners with more speed and keep it through the stretches.
The day was a troublesome one for JR Motorsports as both Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman ran out of fuel before pitting on Lap 57. Keselowski lost two laps trying to restart his car and ended up finishing 18th after rallying near the end, while Newman lost a lap because of his fuel problems and finished 22nd.
Brian Vickers had a good race and was able to finish third; Jason Leffler tried to rally for fourth but had to settle for fifth, while Kevin Harvick held off a late charging Carl Edwards for fifth. Greg Biffle had a pretty fast car all day but had a few pit problems and settled for seventh, David Reutimann took eighth, Mike Bliss finished ninth, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top ten.
“Image: Zuma Press”
