Bristol Motor Speedway is infamous as the fastest half mile track in the world. The recent Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 at Bristol held a number of surprises, the biggest of which had fans on the edges of their seats for the duration of the race. Driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Mustang was 24-year-old Joey Logano, whose run of strong performances has helped give Penske Racing a commanding lead in the XFINITY Series Owner Standings.
Logano began the race in the second starting position but quickly overtook Erik Jones, who had started the race in the pole position. After beating him on the inside line of the second turn, Logano stretched the lead and did not fall behind for the remainder of the race. That’s three hundred laps, all led by the #22 Mustang. Logano’s crew had him out of the pits first every time, and at one point Logano had gained a five second lead on the rest of the pack and found himself in lapped traffic.
Possibly the biggest highlight of the race was the fact that Logano drove the last 120 laps of the race on a single set of tires. Even with worn-out rubber, he held onto his lead and set two new records for the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Not only did Logano set the record for most laps led in a single NXS race, but he is now the only driver ever to lead every lap in an NXS race at Bristol.
Ford had a solid day at Bristol, with three drivers finishing in the top ten. Logano had plenty to say about his beast of a Mustang: “I’ve never led every single lap of a race before. What a fast Discount Tire Ford… It’s not very often you get a car that is that fast.” Crew chief Greg Erwin finished his statement with a simple “This guy is unreal.” The #22 Ford Mustang that carried Logano to Victory Lane and the history books delivers 685 horsepower from a 358-cubic-inch V8 engine.