Go to content Go to navigation Go to recent PR reports Go to search

Raybestos Rookie LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Qualifying: Joey Logano

Friday June 26, 2009

 

Where the Raybestos Rookies qualified at New Hampshire:
Logano 24th
Speed 37th
Bean DNQ

Raybestos Rookie Practice Speeds:
Logano 10th
Speed 21st
Bean 45th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUALIFYING QUOTES FOR THE LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 301 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, JUNE 26, 2009, PAGE 4.

Qualifying for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 was rained out this afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The starting lineup will be determined by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rulebook.

Raybestos Rookie Joey Logano posted the 10th-best overall speed in practice this afternoon at New Hampshire. Logano made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut here last fall and he is the only Raybestos Rookie entered this weekend that has Cup experience at the 1.058-mile speedway. The native of Middletown, Connecticut leads Scott Speed by 20 points (178-158) in the overall Raybestos Rookie standings.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA: “It’s cool. I don’t know where we were in race trim. We weren’t that great but on older tires we were where we need to be. We set some fast laps to get up there on the speed chart and then put new tires in qualifying trim and I was like that was the first time I’ve been first in practice over here. That was really neat. Probably would have been faster. I felt like I left some out there. Of course the time I probably have a shot at the pole it’ll probably be rained out. Typical [laughs] so it kind of it what it is. You can’t be mad about it because you can’t do nothing about it. It is what it is.” IS IT GOOD FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE TO RUN WELL AND ACTUALLY BE FASTEST IN PRACTICE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME? “Confidence is huge. Confidence is the biggest thing going for you. If you don’t have that you’re beat before you get to the racetrack. I think lately it’s been building and getting higher and higher. In the beginning of the season I was way different, two way different personalities. Now, I’m still more confident over here [Nationwide] obviously, but instead of like this [holds his arms approximately one foot apart] it’s becoming more flat so I think that’s good. You kind of know what you want over there [Sprint Cup], know what’s going on a little bit more, and over here it’s like old habit kind of thing. It’s different between that type of stuff.” YOU MADE YOUR SPRINT CUP DEBUT HERE LAST FALL. HOW DIFFERENT IS THIS WEEK VERSUS LAST SEPTEMBER? “A lot, lot better. Last time I was here I was 43rd and this time I was top of the board for a little bit. It goes to show what laps and some experience can do. Are we where we need to be over there yet? Absolutely not, I don’t think so at all but I think we’re a lot closer. If we pick up this much again in another year it’ll be awesome [smiles]. You’ll be up there battling for wins every race. You’ve just got to keep picking it up. It’s kind of like when you got to the racetrack and you’re a second off, the first half a second is easy to figure out. It’s the last few tenths that get harder. I’m assuming that’s what it’s probably going to be like.” IS THE TRACK TIME YOU GOT HERE LAST SEPTEMBER EVEN MORE IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF THE TESTING LIMITS THIS SEASON? “A little bit, I think so, but you’re on a different tire now with a totally different team. It’s not like we can go back on those notes you know what I mean. Everything was so different. The cars were way different than what I have now. The tire is different. The only thing that helped us is me getting laps around the place but besides that, you can’t go back on our old stuff so it’s not like actually come back to the track for your second time. It’s not like hope fully later on in the season. Hopefully it’s going to be different than this. You can’t really get a true reading on the rest of the season out of this race.” THIS IS A HOMETOWN RACE FOR YOU. DO YOU HAVE FRIENDS AT THE TRACK THIS WEEKEND? “There’s a few. I saw some driving through the pits and I swerved at ‘em just joking around [smiles]. It’s cool that you see some of your family and friends from Connecticut that came up here. Most of them come to this race and between here and Dover, Dover is a little bit further [travel time], but distance is about the same. It’s a home track but you’re not exactly home but it’s the closest thing you can get to it [smiles].”

Do you want the chance to win a free Frontstretch T-Shirt, and are you really good at talking about NASCAR? Well, we have the perfect opportunity for you. Our staff will be giving away a free T-Shirt to the reader who makes the best post in our Frontstretch Forum between now and the end of the season. So, what makes a good post? It’s pretty hard to impress us, but here are some things we are looking for:

Does your post spark passionate reactions from other readers? Are you commenting on meaningful NASCAR-related events? Do your posts have substance? In other words, “Dale Jr. is the best driver ever” or “Danica Patrick is hot” will not cut it.

So go to the Frontstretch Forums, post early, post often, and post well! We’ll announce the winner following the final race of the season at Homestead.

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

©2000 - 2008 Kim DeHaven and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!