Logano aims for repeat performance at Glen

WATKINS GLEN, New York — A year ago, Joey Logano came to Watkins Glen International hoping for a road course breakthrough to add to his resumé. He departed with two trophies after a weekend sweep of the Xfinity and Sprint Cup races.

He’s back at The Glen aiming for a repeat performance and started strong, winning Saturday’s Xfinity Zippo 200 from the pole just as he did a year ago.

“That’s what we’ve come here to do. We’d better have the attitude that we can do that, or else we shouldn’t be here,” Logano said. “Confidence is high. I’m kind of mad I didn’t get the Cup pole.”

Logano, who will start seventh today in the Cup race, has finished seventh or better in four of his last five starts at Watkins Glen. In his last two starts at NASCAR’s other road course in Sonoma, he was fifth last year and third in June in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

A player in last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship until a run-in with Matt Kenseth at Martinsville derailed his title hopes, Logano is on pace to be a factor again when the postseason gets underway in September. On the season, he has one win, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes, and five of those top-fives have come in the past nine races. Only five races remain before the Chase begins.

“I don’t think we’re far off. We had a little bit of a seesaw,” said Logano, who led Monday’s rain-shortened race at Pocono until he was caught up in a late crash. “I think we’re starting to see some speed come back in our cars. We had just as many wins at this point last year. I don’t feel like we’re behind. We can still go get six or seven wins before the year is out, I think. We’ve got to peak at the right time.”

Like Kentucky, Watkins Glen International has a new racing surface after a repave in the off-season. Goodyear has brought a harder-compound tire, which has made grip elusive, but it doesn’t wear down so fast. The 2.45-mile layout also features new concrete for the rumble strips that border the turns and runoff areas.

“It’s not as different as you would think,” Logano said. “The tire’s a lot harder and you also have a rules change. The aero package is different. It’s not oh-my-gosh different. There’s not much tire falloff. It’s smoother.”

Six Sprint Cup Series drivers — Logano and Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Kyle Larson, and Trevor Bayne — entered the Zippo 200 to get more track time on the new surface. Keselowski also logged more than 70 laps in a Goodyear tire test in July as he seeks that breakthrough Cup triumph at The Glen.