Logano takes maiden Nationwide win
NASCAR teenage sensation Joey Logano claimed his maiden Nationwide Series victory at just his third attempt, winning the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway and becoming the youngest winner ever in series history
The 18-year-old had claimed his second pole position in the series earlier on Saturday and then led from the green flag challenged only by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch, who ended up wrecking while trying to keep up with him.
"I tell you what, this is amazing," said an excited Logano. "We unloaded not where we wanted to and no-one gave up. We worked really hard and got a win out of this thing. That's pretty awesome."
"[Kyle Busch] went by me early in the race and I said 'Wow, we need this thing turning a lot better'. We worked on it and worked on it and got it there on that last pitstop. We were a little free but Kyle was a little free too.
"I got by him and then looked at my mirror and saw a bunch of smoke and said 'Oh boy, what happened there?' But I thought my car was good that I think we could have won either way. It was pretty dominant tonight. I was really excited."
Busch's spin put an early end to what was tuning out to be a great battle for victory between NASCAR's present and future.
He had started the race from the back of the grid after Jeremy Clements practiced and qualified his car but it only took him forty laps to get to the lead, passing Logano on the inside of turn one.
Later on lap 147, Logano retook the lead by passing Busch on the outside of turn four, pulling away from his teammate, who then fought back to challenge him once again, only to spin at turn two with 37 laps remaining.
Scott Wimmer finished the race second after beating Jason Leffler in the closing laps. Leffler had run a solid third but a punctured tyre a few laps from the end dropped him down the order to 14th by the chequered flag.
Mike Wallace was third followed by Brad Keselowski, who is translating his consistency into a serious threat for the title as he moved up to second in the points as the only Nationwide Series regular in the top-six of the championship.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Bryan Clauson claimed his best result of the season with a fifth-place finish, racing the No. 40 car usually driven by Dario Franchitti. The result is also the best for his team thus far this year.
Championship leader Clint Bowyer finished a quiet ninth and sees his lead reduced to a still healthy 170 points over Keselowski.
Pos Driver Make Laps 1. Joey Logano Toyota 200 2. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 200 3. Mike Wallace Toyota 200 4. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 200 5. Bryan Clauson Dodge 200 6. Marcos Ambrose Ford 200 7. David Ragan Ford 200 8. Mike Bliss Chevrolet 200 9. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 200 10. Jason Keller Chevrolet 200 11. Landon Cassill Chevrolet 200 12. David Stremme Chevrolet 200 13. David Reutimann Toyota 200 14. James Buescher Toyota 200 15. Brad Coleman Ford 200 16. Jason Leffler Toyota 200 17. Steve Wallace Chevrolet 199 18. Cale Gale Chevrolet 199 19. Kelly Bires Ford 199 20. Carl Edwards Ford 198 21. Bobby Hamilton Jr Ford 198 22. Mark Green Chevrolet 198 23. Josh Wise Toyota 198 24. Kevin Lepage Ford 198 25. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 198 26. D.J. Kennington Dodge 196 27. Brad Teague Chevrolet 189 28. Eric McClure Chevrolet 188 29. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 169 30. Kyle Busch Toyota 163 31. Derrike Cope Chevrolet 97 32. Burney Lamar Ford 52 33. Andy Ponstein Chevrolet 41 34. Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet 31 35. Brian Keselowski Dodge 31 36. Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 23 37. Kertus Davis Chevrolet 23 38. Justin Hobgood Chevrolet 19 39. Chase Miller Dodge 11 40. Dwayne Leik Chevrolet 6 41. Larry Gunselman Dodge 5 42. Danny Efland Chevrolet 0 43. Morgan Shepherd Dodge 0
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