Although Joey Logano couldn't hear a critical call from his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, in the final laps of Sunday's Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas, he still found his way to victory lane. The defining moment came when a caution was called with six laps remaining, and teams had to decide whether to pit.
Logano said he knew what to do since he's discussed those late-race scenarios with Wolfe before. He opted to stay out on the track rather than pit to replace his tires. The move worked in his favor and Team Penske's No. 22 car led the pack to the finish.
"Paul came over the radio and said, 'Stick to the plan,'" Logano said about his eventual communication with Wolfe. "I said, 'Okay, I'll stick to the plan.' That was it."
Meanwhile, the decision to pit backfired on Logano's teammate, Ryan Blaney, who was leading at the caution. Blaney dropped to an 11th place finish late in the race as Logano rode into the opening left by Blaney and Alex Bowman, who was in second place at the caution.
"The caution came out and we pitted," Blaney said. "Some guys didn't, some guys took two, and we just end up getting absolutely destroyed with people not knowing how many cars were to the outside of them."
Blaney's crew chief Todd Gordon took the blame for the loss.
"I should have left you out," Gordon radioed Blaney. "My gut told me to. I didn't. My bad."
Pit strategy played out in the final two laps and determined the finishing order, with those who did not pit emerging on top. None of the top three finishers _ Logano, Matt DiBenedetto and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. _ pitted in the final laps. The key to their strategy, however, was the fact that many of the leaders did pit, while those farther back stayed out, creating some separation in the field.
"I needed clean air, needed to get to the front," Logano said. "If you have clean air, that's enough to overcome the tires."
When the field lined up to take the green with two laps to go, the order was Logano, William Byron, DiBenedetto and Stenhouse Jr. in the top four, respectively. Blaney was in 12th after changing all four tires.
Then, a crash in the final lap ended the race before Blaney was able to move farther up, leaving him outside the top 10 despite leading a few laps earlier.
"It's easy to look back on it and say we should have stayed out," Blaney said. "That's a tough call for Todd Gordon in his position, but I've got to thank him for giving me a really good car."
For other drivers, however, the decision to pit was a smart one. Jimmie Johnson, for example, was in tenth place at the caution. He had two tires changed, moved into ninth at the restart and finished in fifth place. Ty Dillon pitted for all four tires and gained ten spots, while Kyle Larson also pitted for four tires. He gained seven spots.
"Luckily, we got the outside," Austin Dillon said about the final restart. Dillon did not pit and gained two spots to finish in fourth place.
"Our teammate (Tyler Reddick) was doomed on the bottom," Dillon said. "The bottom just seemed to lose spots all day unless you were the leader."
Bubba Wallace, who finished in sixth place, called his decision not to pit "a good gamble."
Wolfe also said the decision to stay out is a "gamble" that works if a driver can get to the front row for clean air. His driver was able to do just that.
"Like (Logano), I try to communicate with him thoughts and get his ideas," Wolfe said. "And kind of have a plan. Sometimes you have to change and adapt, but he stuck to what we had talked about, and obviously it paid off."
