The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion continues his summer surge in Richmond. Joey Logano is now ninth in the championship standings when he was outside the top 16 just over a month ago.
The Team Penske driver earned his 39th career win and second in the last four races on Saturday night, beating Chase Briscoe by 0.392s at the checkered flag.
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“Don’t let the boys get hot,” said Logano after climbing from his car. “We’re pretty strong right now (smiling). Awesome to see the speed in the 22 again. Gosh, it was a great car. We’ve had a great car here the last five races. We haven’t been able to capitalize on the win. Been so close. Sweet redemption today.”
Austin Cindric made huge gains in his fight to make the Chase, finishing third. Denny Hamlin finished fourth and Chase Elliott fifth.
Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, William Byron, and Alex Bowman filled out the remainder of the top 10.
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Stages 1 and 2
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Blaney and Briscoe battled side-by-side for several laps before Blaney finally cleared him for the lead.
About 30 laps into the race, the first round of green-flag stops began as tires were paramount.
Briscoe kept the pressure on Blaney, but it was the Penske driver who won Stage 1. They were followed by Logano, Cindric, Berry, Wallace, Hamlin, Bell, Elliott, and Byron.
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On the ensuing restart, Wallace got knocked up the track by Berry, but they avoided a more serious incident. At the front, Briscoe led, but not for long as Blaney ran him down and passed him.
During the next round of green-flag pit stops, Zane Smith spun on his own, catching several drivers out. Drivers adversely impacted by the timing included 23XI teammates Reddick and Wallace.
Blaney was about to pit from the lead, but his spotter saw the accident unfold and kept him on track.
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On the next restart, there was some more contact as Bowman and Herbst slammed fenders. Larson also moved Hocevar up the track.
Later, Hamlin ran into the back of Blaney in an awkward moment, hitting each other a second time as Blaney bobbled due to the first hit.
With 70 to go in the stage, another round of green-flag stops began, and Zilisch got caught speeding. On the track, Logano moved into the race lead.
With the strategies varying throughout the field, the drivers on the primary strategy pitted about 15 laps later, and all of them intended to go to the end of the stage.
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Cindric nearly made contact on pit road when he tried to turn into his stall, but he and Suarez avoided one another.
Late in the stage, Larson pitted for fresh tires, hoping to use the rubber advantage to unlap himself. He didn’t quite do enough to catch the leader, but he did secure the free pass in the end.
At the front, Logano was driving away with the race lead, over eight seconds clear of his closest competition. He left just 12 cars on the lead lap, winning Stage 2.
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Behind Logano, it was Hamlin, Briscoe, Cindric, Blaney, Berry, Elliott, Bell, Reddick, and Byron.
Stage 3
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
On the restart, Briscoe managed to take the lead from Logano, while Berry drew the ire of Hamlin after getting into him in the shuffle. Hamlin bumped him soon after, in a sketchy moment that involved Cindric to Berry’s outside.
Van Gisbergen rolled the dice, staying out on old tires and taking the wave-around back to the lead lap. Ultimately, he had to pit and didn’t catch the yellow, at least not on that sequence.
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With 120 laps to go, the leaders began to file down pit road under green-flag conditions, while Hocevar abruptly slowed with an engine failure. Hocevar had accidentally downshifted, causing the engine failure and triggering another mid-cycle caution.
This was a huge break for Reddick and Van Gisbergen, whose decision to go off-sequence worked out in the long run.
A handful of drivers pitted during this yellow, while Briscoe took over the lead.
On the restart, Berry and Chastain slammed doors as they went four-wide off Turn 2 but everyone saved it.
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With 75-80 laps to go, critical green-flag stops got underway, and the leaders were among the first down in the cycle. Hamlin had a sloppy stop, costing him some time.
Bell ran very long, trying to cut out a stop, pitting from the lead with 56 laps to go. Briscoe inherited the race lead, just ahead of Logano.
With 40 laps to go, Logano made an outside pass on Briscoe for the race lead, making the move as they battled lapped traffic.
Immediately, they called Briscoe to pit road and Logano responded. Briscoe locked up the tires as they pitted together, and Logano narrowly beat Briscoe off pit road.
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This put Bell back into the lead as he attempted to cut out a pit stop. With 25 laps to go, Logano easily passed Bell and drove off with the lead.
Briscoe remained within striking distance, but Logano used lapped traffic to build enough of a cushion in the final laps and held on to win by 0.392 seconds. Cindric finished third, ahead of Hamlin and Elliott.
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