NASCAR Cup Series

Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth have disappointing days once again at Martinsville

Published Apr. 3, 2016 6:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

Sunday's STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway was an exciting race, with lots of hard racing and passing throughout the pack.

But anyone who came to the Virginia short track expecting the level of fireworks that exploded between Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano last October probably went away disappointed.

In truth, neither driver had the result he wanted at Martinsville, but it was not because of any contact between them or any lingering bad blood. It was just one of those days.

Logano qualified on the pole for the third consecutive time here, but his Team Penske Ford ran poorly early and he dropped through the field, getting lapped on the 77th of 500 circuits of the 0.526-mile track.

Although Logano was able to eventually get back on the lead lap, he finished a disappointing 11th.

"It was frustrating," Logano said. "You want to go out there and win for sure and we just missed it."

Considering where he started, it was a bad afternoon for Logano and his team.

"We've just got to go back and learn from our mistakes and learn from what happened today," said Logano. "It seems like this tire kind of threw us for a loop today, or at least for our car."

Kenseth's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was fast, leading 45 laps and running near the front almost all race long.

Until the end, that is.

A late caution meant that Kenseth restarted second on the final drop of the green flag on Lap 490. But Kenseth got caught on the tricky outside line and fell to 15th at the end of the race.

It was a tough way to end a race Kenseth had a chance to win, much like the season opening Daytona 500, when he led on the last lap and got passed by teammate Denny Hamlin who won the race, while Kenseth wound up 14th.

Last year, Logano won a series-high six races, while Kenseth won five himself. Through six events this year, neither man has found Victory Lane. Sunday at Martinsville, they both found disappointment.