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Kansas NASCAR: Joey Logano wins after collision with Matt Kenseth

Joey Logano took a second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase race win at Kansas Motor Speedway in controversial fashion, after removing rival Matt Kenseth from the lead late on

Team Penske driver Logano had closed in on Kenseth dramatically once the pair had overtaken Jimmie Johnson off a late restart.

While Joe Gibbs Racing's Kenseth had resisted one of Logano's earlier attacks, the pair came to blows with five laps to run when lapping traffic.

Kenseth, who headed to the event 12th and last of the remaining Chase contenders, battled his way from 11th on the grid to the lead of the field by lap 72 of the planned 267, and looked peerless off numerous mid-race caution periods.

But as the pair approached backmarkers in the closing stages Kenseth went high to block Logano's run, only to be turned around by his rival who had grown tired of his obstructions.

That dropped Kenseth to 14th, the Toyota driver now needing a strong result at Talldega next week to stand any chance of advancing to the Eliminator round of the Chase.

Logano was able to dominate the resulting restart to claim a second win of the Contender stage ahead of Denny Hamlin and Johnson.

Hamlin just held off Johnson for second at the flag, while Kasey Kahne equalled his season's best finish in fourth.

Kyle Busch completed the top five ahead of brother Kurt, with Ryan Blaney seventh.

Chase runners Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski - who had started from pole - and Jeff Gordon completed the top 10.

Kenseth wasn't the only Chase driver to endure a difficult day. Both Martin Truex Jr and Kevin Harvick looked set for solid top-10 finishes, before being served with stop/go penalties for separate pitlane incidents.

That dropped the pair down the field and a lap, and while Truex fought valiantly to catch and pass his rival, and was awarded the 'lucky dog' to rejoin the lead lap ahead of the final restart, their limit was 15th and 16th.

Like Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr also faces an uphill struggle to qualify for the Eliminator round, the Hendrick Motorsports driver struggling throughout the race en route to 21st at the flag.

RESULTS:

Pos Driver Team Car Laps
1 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 269
2 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269
3 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 269
4 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 269
5 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269
6 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 269
7 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 269
8 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269
9 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 269
10 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 269
11 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 269
12 Brian Scott Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 269
13 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 269
14 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269
15 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 269
16 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 268
17 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 268
18 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 268
19 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 268
20 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 268
21 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267
22 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267
23 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 267
24 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 267
25 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 266
26 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 266
27 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 265
28 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 265
29 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 265
30 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 265
31 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 264
32 Brett Moffitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 264
33 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 264
34 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 263
35 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 263
36 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 262
37 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota 260
38 Reed Sorenson Phil Parsons Racing Ford 258
39 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford 255
40 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 170
41 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 154
42 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 144
43 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet 127

CHASE STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Joey Logano 3095
2 Denny Hamlin 3082
3 Kurt Busch 3077
4 Carl Edwards 3076
5 Kevin Harvick 3071
6 Brad Keselowski 3071
7 Jeff Gordon 3071
8 Martin Truex Jr. 3070
9 Kyle Busch 3064
10 Ryan Newman 3062
11 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3039
12 Matt Kenseth 3035

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