Ford Completes Daytona Speedweeks Sweep

(DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEB 22, 2015 – RIS) Joey Logano held off a challenge from Kevin Harvick and used a push from Denny Hamlin to win the Daytona 500 and close out a Ford clean sweep of all four major races at the Speedway's Speedweeks. "What an amazing moment. Wow. To win this race is just amazing," said Logano in Victory Lane. "I have the best team on pit road for sure. These guys are awesome. My spotter did a great job giving me the information I need to get our front and stay out front before that last caution and be able to have a good restart there at the end. I knew I had the 15 behind me and Clint Bowyer was the best pusher I could find out there and was able to push me to the lead and I knew I wanted the outside to make sure he was behind me to work up there again."

WHAT ABOUT THE PASS FOR THE LEAD BEFORE THE LAST CAUTION AND THEN THE AGONY OF THE RED FLAG? "The agony is that you just – I keep looking at this trophy behind you and it is amazing. What a beauty. Now I lost my train of thought. I am sorry. I am so distracted right now. We got the push that got us out front and that was just Clint pushing hard. He wasn't lifting before he got to my bumper, he was slamming into the back bumper and that is what we needed to get this Ford out front and here in victory lane."

COMING TO THE WHITE FLAG BEFORE THE CAUTION, YOU LOOK IN YOUR MIRROR, WHAT DO YOU SEE AND WHAT WAS THE PLAN TO STAY OUT FRONT? "You see cars, a lot of cars and I saw that we were single file the first three cars and I knew that was a good thing because it would be harder for them to form a run. Then I saw them crash in the mirror but I had a distance to go and I thought that was good because it was still going to be harder for them to catch up without as many cars in the pack. Then the caution came out anyway. That feeling of winning the Daytona 500 -- I can't explain how cool this is. I said in an interview that this was our worst race track last year and we worked really hard to figure out how we could get better at it and all the hard work got us the win today."

AS A KID WHO DREAMED OF DOING THIS, HOW DOES THE REALITY FEEL? "It feels just like the way you dream it. This is better than Disney World in here!"

Logano's Penske Racing teammate, Brad Keselowski and Penske engine client Ryan Blaney both suffered engine failures which brought out cautions for cleanup. The race ended under caution after a green-white restart when a melee broke out on the back straight.

Three-time winner of the race, Jeff Gordon, finished 28th in his last Daytona 500 start.

Ron Fleshman will be back later with a full race report.

Unofficial Race Results: 57th Annual Daytona 500

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Lap, Status, Pts, BPts, TLd, LLd
1) 5, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 203, Running, 47, 4, 6, 31
2) 11, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet, 203, Running, 42, , ,
3) 3, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 203, Running, 42, 1, 1, 32
4) 42, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 203, Running, 41, 1, 3, 4
5) 2, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 203, Running, 40, 1, 4, 39
6) 41, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 203, Running, 39, 1, 1, 1
7) 9, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, 203, Running, 37, , ,
8) 10, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet, 203, Running, 37, 1, 1, 1
9) 13, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 203, Running, 35, , ,
10) 8, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ortho Ford, 203, Running, 35, 1, 1, 2
11) 26, David Gilliland, No. 38 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 203, Running, 33, , ,
12) 38, Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Twisted Tea Ford, 203, Running, 32, , ,
13) 27, Michael Annett, No. 46 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 203, Running, 32, 1, 1, 1
14) 30, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet, 203, Running, 30, , ,
15) 33, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 203, Running, 29, , ,
16) 24, Regan Smith(i), No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, 203, Running, 0, , ,
17) 28, David Ragan, No. 34 Kentucky Fried Chicken Ford, 203, Running, 27, , ,
18) 4, Matt Crafton(i), No. 18 M&M's Crispy Toyota, 203, Running, 0, , ,
19) 36, Johnny Sauter(i), No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota, 203, Running, 0, , ,
20) 40, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger/USO Chevrolet, 203, Running, 25, 1, 1, 1
21) 20, Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, 203, Running, 23, , ,
22) 19, Cole Whitt, No. 35 Speed Stick Ford, 203, Running, 22, , ,
23) 6, Carl Edwards, No. 19 Arris Toyota, 203, Running, 22, 1, 2, 3
24) 43, Bobby Labonte, No. 32 C & J Energy Services Ford, 203, Running, 20, , ,
25) 21, Paul Menard, No. 27 Peak/Menards Chevrolet, 203, Running, 19, , ,
26) 34, Michael Waltrip, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota, 203, Running, 18, , ,
27) 15, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna/McDonald's Chevrolet, 203, Running, 17, , ,
28) 31, Ty Dillon(i), No. 33 Cheerios/Kroger Chevrolet, 203, Running, 0, , ,
29) 32, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 203, Running, 15, , ,
30) 37, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 203, Running, 14, , ,
31) 23, Michael McDowell, No. 95 Thrivent Financial Ford, 203, Running, 13, , ,
32) 14, Reed Sorenson, No. 44 Golden Corral Chevrolet, 203, Running, 12, , ,
33) 1, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, 203, Running, 13, 2, 6, 87
34) 29, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 202, Accident, 10, , ,
35) 35, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 202, Running, 9, , ,
36) 16, Mike Wallace, No. 66 Crazy Vapors/X8 Energy Gum Toyota, 199, Running, 8, , ,
37) 18, Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Brandt Chevrolet, 197, Accident, 7, , ,
38) 22, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 184, Running, 6, , ,
39) 12, Ryan Blaney(i), No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 175, Engine, 0, , ,
40) 25, JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 MAXIM Fantasy App/Dr. Pepper Toyota, 161, Running, 0, , 1, 1
41) 39, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 160, Engine, 3, , ,
42) 7, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 72, Accident, 2, , ,
43) 17, Landon Cassill, No. 40 CarsForSale.com Chevrolet, 18, Engine, 0, , ,

# = Rookie
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.
Average Speed: 161.939 MPH
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 08 Mins, 02 Secs
Margin of Victory: Caution
Lead Changes: 27 among 12 drivers
Cautions: 7 for 26 laps 

Did Not Qualify: #62 Brian Scott(i); #29 Justin Marks(i); #30 Ron Hornaday Jr.; #26 Jeb Burton #; #7 Alex Bowman; #98 Josh Wise

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series