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Richmond NASCAR: Joey Logano comes from last to lead Penske one-two

Joey Logano went from last to victory in the NASCAR Cup race at Richmond, leading home Brad Keselowski to claim a Penske one-two

Having originally qualified fifth for his 300th Cup start, Logano was sent to the back of the 38-car starting grid due to a transmission change.

He was one of several drivers to stop at the first early caution and made steady progress up the order to sneak into the top 10 at the end of stage one.

With a strong car underneath him, Logano continued to move up the field and found himself in the top five at the pitstop phase under the seventh caution, caused by Dale Earnhardt Jr spinning with a punctured left-rear tyre.

Penske gambled at the penultimate caution to keep both Logano and Keselowski, who was leading at the time, out on track.

Logano got the jump on his team-mate to take the lead with just under 30 laps remaining.

He then got once last chance to pit at the final caution, caused by Ryan Blaney hitting the wall with a flat left-rear tyre, but had to battle his way through slower cars that gambled on staying out.

Logano put his fresh tyres to good use, quickly moving up to second place and then taking the lead from Kyle Larson. He went on to claim his 18th Cup victory and first of the 2017 season.

Keselowski also battled his way back up the field in the closing stages, with the two Penske Fords pulling clear of the rest.

He had won stage two and led 124 laps but missed out on victory by just eight tenths of a second.

Denny Hamlin featured at the front for the majority of the race, finishing third despite an early scare with an electrical issue. He completed the top three for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr hit the wall at Turn 3 mid-way through the opening stage but recovered ground. He risked it staying out in the final caution and despite losing a few spots, he finished fourth.

Kevin Harvick was another driver to feature near the front, but he eventually finished fifth, ahead of Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman, who made up ground staying out in the green-flag stops midway through the final stage.

Kurt Busch was eighth, with Aric Almirola and Martin Truex Jr moving into the top 10 in the final laps.

Kyle Busch looked to be challenging for victory after bouncing back from an early pitlane penalty, only to get another at the last stops. He fell to 16th.

Stage one winner and polesitter Matt Kenseth led the most laps with 164 but a late right-rear puncture after contact with Chase Elliott dropped him to 23rd.

RESULTS:

Pos Driver Team Car Laps
1 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 400
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 400
3 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400
4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 400
5 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 400
6 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 400
7 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 400
8 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 400
9 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 400
10 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 400
11 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400
12 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400
13 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 400
14 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 400
15 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 400
16 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400
17 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 400
18 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 400
19 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 400
20 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 400
21 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 400
22 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400
23 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400
24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400
25 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 400
26 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 400
27 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 400
28 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 400
29 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 399
30 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 398
31 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 398
32 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 396
33 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 395
34 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 393
35 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet 392
36 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 378
37 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 333
38 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota 4

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Kyle Larson 398
2 Martin Truex Jr. 358
3 Chase Elliott 346
4 Brad Keselowski 327
5 Joey Logano 308
6 Kevin Harvick 286
7 Jamie McMurray 282
8 Jimmie Johnson 270
9 Clint Bowyer 266
10 Kyle Busch 235
11 Denny Hamlin 231
12 Ryan Blaney 229
13 Ryan Newman 225
14 Trevor Bayne 216
15 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 201
16 Erik Jones 193
17 Kurt Busch 192
18 Matt Kenseth 192
19 Aric Almirola 189
20 Kasey Kahne 179
21 Austin Dillon 171
22 Daniel Suarez 169
23 Ty Dillon 157
24 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 141
25 Paul Menard 139
26 A.J. Allmendinger 117
27 Chris Buescher 114
28 Michael McDowell 110
29 Danica Patrick 110
30 Landon Cassill 104
31 Cole Whitt 104
32 Matt DiBenedetto 99
33 David Ragan 97
34 Reed Sorenson 43
35 Jeffrey Earnhardt 36
36 Gray Gaulding 31
37 Michael Waltrip 29
38 Derrike Cope 15
39 Cody Ware 1
39 D.J. Kennington 1


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