Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

NASCAR Charlotte: Joey Logano dominates delayed race

Joey Logano dominated the first leg of part two of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase at Charlotte with a crushing performance in the postponed race

The Penske Ford driver led 227 of the 334 laps and was generally able to hold a comfortable cushion over his rivals.

Reigning champion Kevin Harvick was Logano's closest rival, though the final 0.7-second gap was flattered by late traffic.

The rare daylight Charlotte race - delayed from its planned Saturday night slot due to rain - was extremely short on overtaking among the frontrunners, and was most notable for the size of Logano's advantage and the number of problems befalling other quick cars.

Polesitter Matt Kenseth suffered worse than most. He led the first quarter of the race before choosing to change all four tyres under a yellow in which many didn't pit at all or just took two new tyres - dropping him to 13th.

He struggled to make up ground in traffic even before a tangle with Ryan Newman caused damage that prompted several pit visits and eventually a terminal trip into the wall.

Kenseth's Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate and front row partner Kyle Busch was running strongly until a bizarre pit entry clash with Kyle Larson under yellow, as the Ganassi man made a late decision to dive in just as Busch appeared to back out of doing likewise. Busch ended up a lapped 20th.

JGR at least had Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards in fourth and sixth, chasing Furniture Row's lonely third-place finisher Martin Truex Jr and split by Kurt Busch's Stewart-Haas car.

Austin Dillon got among the Chase contenders to finish seventh for Richard Childress Racing.

It was a mostly terrible day for Hendrick. Dale Earnhardt Jr twice hit the wall and finished back in 28th, suggesting NASCAR had failed to effectively clear up oil from a midfield failure.

Jeff Gordon struggled with handling problems at first and was very relieved to salvage eighth from a race where it had appeared the top 20 would be his limit.

A week after his shock elimination from the Chase, Jimmie Johnson was ironically Hendrick's top runner and held a top-three place for much of the race before retiring with an oil pump failure.

Completing Hendrick's misery, its fourth driver Kasey Kahne was the first retirement following two early trips into the wall.

RESULTS - 334 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 3h35m05.s
2 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.703s
3 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 4.918s
4 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7.203s
5 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 8.200s
6 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 8.812s
7 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 10.236s
8 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12.803s
9 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 16.537s
10 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 16.675s
11 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 18.486s
12 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.840s
13 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 21.376s
14 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22.214s
15 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.250s
16 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.584s
17 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
18 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
19 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
20 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1 Lap
21 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
22 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 Laps
23 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Laps
24 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3 Laps
25 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 3 Laps
26 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 3 Laps
27 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 4 Laps
28 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 4 Laps
29 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 4 Laps
30 Brett Moffitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 4 Laps
31 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 5 Laps
32 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 5 Laps
33 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 6 Laps
34 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 8 Laps
35 Reed Sorenson Phil Parsons Racing Ford 9 Laps
36 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Laps
37 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Engine
38 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford Accident
39 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Engine
40 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 83 Laps
41 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota 90 Laps
42 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Accident
43 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Accident

CHASE STANDINGS

Pos Driver Points
1 Joey Logano 3048
2 Kevin Harvick 3042
3 Martin Truex Jr. 3041
4 Denny Hamlin 3040
5 Kurt Busch 3039
6 Carl Edwards 3039
7 Jeff Gordon 3037
8 Brad Keselowski 3035
9 Ryan Newman 3029
10 Kyle Busch 3025
11 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3016
12 Matt Kenseth 3003


Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Charlotte NASCAR: Joe Gibbs Racing's Kenseth on pole at Charlotte
Next article NASCAR cuts downforce for 2016 Sprint Cup to improve racing

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe