NASCAR at Daytona 500: Does Joey Logano have a backup car?
While the Daytona 500 weekend is almost here, Joey Logano’s crash during Duel 2 spoiled what could have been a perfect outing in qualifying for the Ford Performance teams.
Logano spoke of his crash, saying:
“Driver screwed up. That’s really all there is to it. I thought I was still clear and the run came a lot quicker than I thought it would. I tried to block it a little bit and just got a tag in the left-rear and off it went. It’s my fault. It stinks because it tore up our car and kind of puts us in a spot as a race team. It’s just a dumb mistake.”
JOEY LOGANO CRASHES.
@Chris_Buescher wins Duel 2 while @gbiffle and @Nyracingteam make the field for the #Daytona500!
(Via @NASCAR) https://t.co/6OvBxoc5id
With the Bluegreen Vacation Duels over, the grid for Sunday’s Great American Race is set. Logano, however, would not be very happy with his performance in the race. The Team Penske driver was trying to block eventual winner Chris Buescher on turn 2 during the final lap when contact between the two cars sent him into the wall.
Although his car was not totaled, the driver will have to use the backup car. Speaking about having to use his spare, he said:
“Yeah. We’ll have to use it obviously at this point. It doesn’t help, but we’ll try to make it as best we can. We’ve got a couple days of practice to work on it and get it good and we’ll move on. There’s nothing I can do now. I wish I could reverse time, but I can’t. Like I said, it was just a mistake. We’ve got to move forward.”
Although the crash ended his race, Joey Logano found solace in the fact that he emerged unhurt from his car. He claimed if there was a positive to the incident, this was it.
The No. 17 was the leader at the time of caution.
@Chris_Buescher is the winner of #BluegreenDuel No. 2! https://t.co/YBIT8HYH9i
Joey Logano riding high into Daytona 500
The 31-year-old comes into the Daytona 500 riding on a happy wave. Joey Logano won the inaugural Clash at LA Coliseum earlier this month. Complementing his success on the track, he became a father for the third time just days after the race.
Expressing his excitement just after the LA race, Logano said:
“I’m out of breath. I was so excited about this. This is a big win. My wife is having a baby tomorrow, our third one, so a pretty big weekend for us.”
Pretty awesome 36 hours! Sunday will never compare to today though.
Welcome to the world Emilia Love Logano
She’s already stole our hearts.
Mom and baby were rockstars. https://t.co/yhRKUbCrW7
The crash at Daytona 500 qualifying might have hurt his race chances, but it has definitely not dampened his spirits. The driver is now looking forward to the Great American Race on Sunday, February 20.