Joey Logano punched his ticket to the Championship 4 at Homestead on Sunday with a last lap pass on Martin Truex Jr. to win the race. After Truex was able to clear Logano off of turn two on the final lap, Logano drove into turn 3 and executed a “bump-and-run” on Truex Jr. to move him out of the groove and slip by to win. “As a race car driver you think about a lot of things, but my goal was not to wreck him in any way,” Logano said. “My goal was to win the race, but I don’t want to win by dumping somebody. I want to win by making a move, and that’s the classic bump and run. That is the move that our sport — and Martinsville in particular — was built on. I feel like I owe it to my race team to do everything I can to be able to win a race and get ourselves to have another shot at a championship. That’s my job. They did their job today and I had to do mine” (courtesy of nascar.com). Truex had a different opinion, though, and expressed that in post-race interviews. “I raced him as hard as I race everybody,” Truex said. “I took the lead from him fair and square and then he gave me a cheap shot. It’s a cheap win. I hope he’s proud of himself.” Truex is still 25 points above the cutoff heading into Texas, a track he has not found victory lane at yet. “He may have won the battle, but he ain’t winning the [expletive] war,” an emotional Truex continued. “He ain’t.” (courtesy of nascar.com).

It was announced on Sunday that Ally Financial will sponsor the #48 car of Jimmie Johnson in 2019 and 2020, as longtime-sponsor Lowes will leave the sport at the end of 2018. Their logo was featured on the quarter panel of the #48 in Sunday’s First Data 500, and they will be the primary sponsor for all 36 races in 2019. The paint scheme will keep some of what is currently on the car, but new features will be added to the exterior as well. “Obviously that neon 48, that’s pretty much part of Jimmie’s DNA, so I would expect that to continue,” Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown said Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. “But we have a lot of plum in our brand, so a lot of plum running around Daytona may be fun to see, hopefully at the front of the pack” (courtesy of nascar.com).

NASCAR travels to the Dallas-Fort Worth area this weekend for playoff races in all three national series, with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series JAG Metals 350 on Friday night, the NASCAR Xfinity Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Saturday, and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 on Sunday. For those of you interested in attending any of the events, tickets can be bought at texasmotorspeedway.com. Also, kids 12 and under get in free for the JAG Metals 350 and the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Hope to see you at the track!

MENCS Playoff Standings
1. Joey Logano ADVANCED
2. Kyle Busch +46
3. Kevin Harvick +25
4. Martin Truex Jr. +25
______________________ CUTOFF
5. Kurt Busch -25
6. Chase Elliott -31
7. Clint Bowyer -42
8. Aric Almirola -50

Sources:
Albert, Zack. “Truex Jr.: Logano ‘Ain’t Winning the Damn War’.” Official Site Of NASCAR, NASCAR.com, 29 Oct. 2018, www.nascar.com/news-media/2018/10/28/martin-truex-jr-reaction-martinsville-finish-joey-logano-win/.

Albert, Zack. “Expect Mix of Familiar, New on Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48.” Official Site Of NASCAR, NASCAR.com, 29 Oct. 2018, www.nascar.com/news-media/2018/10/29/jimmie-johnson-ally-financial-sponsorhsip-paint-scheme/.

Akomarovski. “2018 NASCAR Playoffs | Monster Energy Series.” Official Site Of NASCAR, 22 Aug. 2018, www.nascar.com/playoff-standings/monster-energy-nascar-cup-series/.

Written on October 29th, 2018.