Bristol NASCAR: Joey Logano resists Kevin Harvick for victory

From fifth on the grid, Logano was among the frontrunners all night, although it was not until lap 225 of 500 that he led for the first time.

After being shuffled back in pitstops at the halfway stage he then returned to the front with just over 150 laps to go and led most of the way from there.

He only briefly conceded the advantage at the final caution, when Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski opted not to pit.

Logano immediately reclaimed the lead at the restart, and began a 63-lap dash to the flag with Harvick in hot pursuit.

Although the pair got very close to contact at one stage as they seared through heavy traffic, Logano held on to score his third win of the season and repeat his victory from the same race in 2014.

Harvick's 10th second-place finish from 24 races this season came after a great recovery from two penalties - one for his pit crew going over the wall too early and the other for speeding on pit road (while being pushed from behind by Denny Hamlin).

After Joe Gibbs Racing had locked out the top three places in qualifying, polesitter Hamlin was the team's highest-placed driver at the finish in third, ahead of Hendrick's Jimmie Johnson.

In the week that the team announced it would no longer be competing full-time beyond this season, Michael Waltrip Racing had both its cars inside the top five when David Ragan made contact with Johnson ahead of him, causing further contact with Clint Bowyer behind.

While Ragan was spun into the inside wall, Bowyer survived a separate spin further down the track to finish fifth and boost his chances of making the Chase.

Keselowski finished sixth ahead of JGR drivers Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Both led for large chunks of the race early on and were still fighting with Logano inside the final 160 laps when they were forced to make green-flag pitstops, for a loose wheel and flat tyre respectively.

Busch had made a comeback to be right behind Logano after the stops at the final caution when he was punished for being too fast onto pit road.

The fourth JGR car of Matt Kenseth made a smoky exit inside the first 120 laps.

RESULTS - 500 LAPS:

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

CURRENT PROVISIONAL CHASE LINE-UP

Johnson (four wins), Kyle Busch (four wins), Logano (three wins), Kenseth (three wins), Harvick (two wins), Earnhardt (two wins), Kurt Busch (two wins), Keselowski (one win), Truex (one win), Hamlin (one win), Edwards (one win), McMurray (points), Newman (points), Menard (points), Gordon (points), Bowyer (points)

Two races to go before cut-off