Bristol NASCAR: Joey Logano resists Kevin Harvick for victory
Joey Logano soaked up late pressure from Kevin Harvick to win at Bristol and take his second NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in the space of three races
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:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 2h45m02.s |
2 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 0.220s |
3 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4.491s |
4 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6.410s |
5 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 8.015s |
6 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 8.913s |
7 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9.156s |
8 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10.224s |
9 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10.655s |
10 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 12.295s |
11 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 13.653s |
12 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.277s |
13 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14.420s |
14 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
15 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 2 Laps |
16 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
17 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 3 Laps |
18 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 3 Laps |
19 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 3 Laps |
20 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 Laps |
21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 4 Laps |
22 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 4 Laps |
23 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 4 Laps |
24 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 Laps |
25 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 4 Laps |
26 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
27 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
28 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
29 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
30 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
31 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 5 Laps |
32 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 6 Laps |
33 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 7 Laps |
34 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 8 Laps |
35 | Josh Wise | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 9 Laps |
36 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 12 Laps |
37 | Mike Bliss | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 14 Laps |
38 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20 Laps |
39 | Timmy Hill | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 24 Laps |
40 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | Accident |
41 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | Accident |
42 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Engine |
43 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | Engine |
LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | 908 |
2 | Joey Logano | 865 |
3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 819 |
4 | Brad Keselowski | 793 |
5 | Jimmie Johnson | 792 |
6 | Martin Truex Jr. | 771 |
7 | Matt Kenseth | 753 |
8 | Kurt Busch | 713 |
9 | Denny Hamlin | 712 |
10 | Jamie McMurray | 696 |
11 | Ryan Newman | 683 |
12 | Paul Menard | 674 |
13 | Jeff Gordon | 672 |
14 | Carl Edwards | 666 |
15 | Clint Bowyer | 655 |
16 | Aric Almirola | 620 |
17 | Kasey Kahne | 618 |
18 | Greg Biffle | 572 |
19 | Austin Dillon | 564 |
20 | Kyle Larson | 551 |
21 | Danica Patrick | 525 |
22 | Casey Mears | 516 |
23 | A.J. Allmendinger | 515 |
24 | David Ragan | 491 |
25 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 476 |
26 | Tony Stewart | 466 |
27 | Trevor Bayne | 443 |
28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 434 |
29 | Kyle Busch | 433 |
30 | Justin Allgaier | 409 |
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
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