NASCAR drivers get most of the credit for any success on the race track, for obvious reasons. But on Sunday, Joey Logano’s pit crew got some well-deserved love for their work during the Daytona 500.
Logano won the 65-lap Stage 1 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. But shortly after, the Team Penske driver started experiencing some mechanical issues with his No. 22 Ford Mustang.
At around lap 77, Logano reported on his team’s radio that his car “runs better at half throttle than it does full.” Team Penske later got extremely lucky as the caution flag was waved on lap 83, allowing Logano’s pit crew to make repairs on pit road without falling too far behind.
The pit crew replaced Logano’s entire throttle body in about 80 seconds. While stalling a car for that length of time would feel like an eternity on the race track, fans on X marveled about how insane of a repair job it was by normal standards.
Logano’s pit crew earned its money on Sunday as the No. 22 Ford got damaged several times throughout this year’s Daytona 500. Before the throttle body issue, Logano had his entire electrical control unit (ECU) replaced.
Later, Logano’s Ford got wrecked in a multi-car crash on lap 186 caused by an untimely block from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Logano was left unable to even steer properly due to the damage.
Not even the best pit crew in the world could repair what was left of Logano’s car following the late-race crash.
