Joey Logano claws way to chaotic Chase win at New Hampshire
Sunday's Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was anything but dull, as the second race of the Chase saw drivers fight hard throughout the entire 303-lap event that ended with a green-white-checkered overtime finish.
In the end, it was Joey Logano who used four tires and a hard charge in the closing stages of the race to make a bold move under Kevin Harvick and his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski to take the lead and score the win.
By scoring the win, Logano became the second driver to lock himself into the Contender 12 round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, putting both Team Penske cars securely in the next round. Keselowski punched his ticket into the next round by winning the Chase opener a week earlier at Chicagoland Speedway.
"It feels good," Logano said of being locked into the next round of the Chase. "It feels great going into the next one. We've got to keep doing what we've been doing, though. We've got to keep our eye on the prize and think about the big trophy at the end."
Taking the checkered flag, Logano scored his fourth win of the season and second of his career at his home track.
"Man, four tires were good and we were able to get some good restarts and was able to get ourselves back up there," said Logano. "We had to work hard. This is my home racetrack, the coolest place to win for me. I could never pick a better racetrack to win (at). I watched my first Cup race here when I was five. I won that other Cup race here (in 2009), and I just felt like I has to win one the right way here. It just means so much."
Logano had to overcome a number of late-race restarts and charges from Harvick, Keselowski and rookie Kyle Larson to score the win.
As Logano was driving away to what appeared certain victory, Jeff Gordon cut a right front tire and hit the Turn 1 wall hard to bring out the caution with just nine laps to go. Gordon, who had four fresher tires than many of his competitors, was running sixth at the time of his incident, but was able to remain on the lead lap while making repairs.
On the ensuing restart, Harvick spun the tires and allowed Logano to take the lead, while the No. 4 kept Keselowski and Larson at bay. However, a spin by Tony Stewart off Turn 4 brought out the 15th caution of the day and set up a green-white-checkered restart, which Logano nailed for the win.
"When the caution came out, I had a lot of things I can't say on TV on my mind," Logano said. "We were able to get some good restarts. The guys do a good job setting this thing up and gave me something to win with today. I went to sleep last night hoping for a top-five, and that would be good for me at this track, because it's not one of my key places. That's why it means so much to win here."
Larson finished second after a tough battle with Harvick, who finished third. Non-Chaser Jamie McMurray finished fourth, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers.
Harvick appeared to be in a good position late in the race to score his first victory since Darlington Raceway in April, but late contact with Keselowski on a restart with 27 laps to go allowed Logano to slip by for the lead.
Despite leading the most laps of the race -- 104 of the 303 -- Harvick struggled on the final few restarts, at least partially as a result, he said, of something he felt NASCAR let Logano get away with in the end.
"Good day for us, we had a fast car," said Harvick. "Track position is tough, and it wound up being really hard racing there. Brad moved me out of the way and I got up out of the grove and wound up getting second. Then at the end there, NASCAR must not be able to see the lines on the restart there. The 22 (Logano) was way early all day, but all in all, he did what he had to do and I just enjoy racing that hard."
Logano's Team Penske teammate Keselowski also looked as if he could score his third consecutive victory in the closing stages, but was shuffled back on the green-white-checkered restart to finish the day seventh.
Keselowski started from the pole, was shuffled to mid-pack early, overcame a spin and contact with the wall on Lap 193, and still nearly won the race.
"We did have a shot," said Keselowski. "The Miller Lite Ford was pretty good, we just missed it a little bit on a few things. I don't think I ran the perfect race either, though. It was a good adversity day, you know, to fight through all of that."
Part of what allowed Keselowski to work his way back through adversity were the 15 cautions, six of which came in the final 55 laps of the race.
VIDEO: Four Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers involved in wreck at New Hampshire
