NASCAR Cup Series

Joey Logano has 'solid points day' at Martinsville as he eyes first title

Published Oct. 27, 2014 12:45 p.m. ET

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Team Penske's Joey Logano led laps and ran up front for much of Sunday's Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but in the end it was just a "solid points day" for the driver of the No. 22 Ford.

Starting from the outside of the front row, Logano led twice for a total of 60 laps, but ended the day fifth when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag and scored the win.

Finishing third among the eight Chase drivers, Logano now sits third in the Chase standings, four points behind Jeff Gordon and one point behind Ryan Newman as the season rolls on to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend.

"It was a solid points day," said Logano. "It's a good the 88 (Earnhardt) won and not the 24 (Gordon), that's a good thing. We just weren't fast enough with our Shell/Pennzoil Ford. We didn't have the lateral, forward drive that I needed off the corner and every time we tried to fix that the center didn't turn. We just couldn't get the handle on it all day."

Logano and crew chief Todd Gordon opted to head to pit road after Kyle Larson and Marcos Ambrose brought out the final caution of the day. Restarting the race in the 13th spot, Logano was able to avoid the slower cars on older tires and climbed his way to the front, but could not get to the lead.

"We took four there and restarted 13th but got to fifth. I was just a little bit too tight there that last run to get a couple more spots," he said. "Overall, it was another top five, which is great. We've been top-fiving the heck out of this Chase, which is what we need to do. I just really want to win these things so you take a little bit of pressure off, but it was still a good points day."

The Team Penske driver now heads to Texas Motor Speedway third in the Chase standings, just four points out of the lead. So far through the first seven Chase races, Logano has two wins, six top-fives, a worst finish of 11th and an average finish of just 4.3.

Logano has wins in both the Challenger Round and the Contender Round of the Chase, and heads to a track in which he scored his first victory of the season earlier in the year. While a win would mean an automatic bid into the Championship 4, more solid points days like Sunday will keep Logano in the title conversation. 

VIDEO: Joey Logano has solid day at Martinsville Speedway

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