At NASCAR’s fastest track, only one thing really mattered in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400: Being out front and getting clean air on the nose of your car — well, that and having enough gasoline to keep it there.
And that’s exactly how Joey Logano scored a huge victory at Michigan International Speedway in a race that saw plenty of on-track chaos and half a dozen contenders fall by the wayside once they lost critical track position.
Logano inherited the lead with four laps to go when Mark Martin ran out of fuel to win his first race of the season, his first with Penske Racing and elevate himself into serious discussion for a wild-card slot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Logano held off Kevin Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet by 0.555 seconds to record his third career victory in 170 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts. Kurt Busch finished third in his Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet, followed by Harvick’s teammate Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.
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Race Fast Facts
Michigan International Speedway 44th Annual Pure Michigan 400
Race Winner: Joey Logano
Age: 23
Team : No. 22 - Shell Pennzoil Ford
Owner: Walter Czarnecki
Crew Chief: Todd Gordon
Joey Logano won the 44th Annual Pure Michigan 400, his third victory in 170 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2013. His last victory came at Pocono on June 10, 2012, 44 starts ago.
Logano won from the Coors Light Pole. Two of his three career wins have now come from the pole. This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in ten races at Michigan International Speedway.
Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 26 races at Michigan International Speedway. It is his 12th top-10 finish in 2013.
Kurt Busch (third) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 26 races at Michigan International Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson leads the point standings by 41 points over Clint Bowyer.
LAP 200 - FINAL: 22 29 78 27 15 9 5 31 16 99 42 39 2 14 20.
Lap 199 — White flag. 22 leads 29 by 0.555 sec.
Lap 197 — 55 out of gas! New leader, 22.
Lap 195 — 55 leads by 0.482 sec.
Lap 194 — 55 leads by 0.415 sec.
Lap 192 — 55 leads by 0.640 sec. But does he have enough gas?
Lap 191 — 55 leads by 0.515 sec.
Lap 188 — 55 leads 22 by 0.579 sec.
Lap 185 — 55 leads by 0.701 seconds over 22 29 78 27.
Lap 182 — 29 passes 78 for 3rd.
Lap 180 — 55 22 78 29 27.
Lap 179 — 22 to 2nd. Lap 178 — green flag. 22 dives low 3-wide going for the lead, but 55 holds on as 22-78 race for 2nd.
Lap 177 — 2 comes out in 17th.
Lap 177 — Don't think the 55 can make it on gas.
Lap 175 — 55 29 22 2 78 43 27 39 15 31 9 42 5 16 14.
Lap 175 — Caution as 18 spins out again.
Lap 171 — 29 passes 43 for 3rd.
Lap 170 — 2 leads 55 by 0.655 sec.
Lap 165 — 38 loses engine.
Lap 164 — 16 42 make contact, 16 nearly wrecks.
Lap 163 — Green flag. 2 leas 55 and 43 on restart.
Lap 160 — 2 55 34 43 (no pit) 22 29 39 99 31 16 27 9.
Lap 159 — Order off pit road: 22 29 39 99 31 16 27 9 15 78. 2 leads because he didn't pit.
Lap 159 — 2 stays out. Most of the rest of the leaders pit. Lap 158 — Caution as 18 hits wall at exit of T2.
Lap 156 — 22 leads 29. These two have a history.
Lap 154 — Green flag. 20 gets loose and nearly wrecks.
Lap 152 — 22 29 20 16 27 99 42 (no pit) 5 78 24 9 56 13 10 2 39 55 31 34 43 11.
Lap 151 — 2 is first lead-lap car to pit. Many others in as well.
Lap 150 — 22 29 20 16 27 99 42 2 5 78 18 24 39 9 15.
Lap 149 — Caution for spin by 47.
Lap 146 — 29 slips in Turn 2, falls back.
Lap 145 — 22 leads 29 by 0.165 sec.
Lap 140 — Green flag, 22 leads; 2, 29, 16 nearly wreck.
Lap 137 — Leaders pit. Order out: 22 2 16 29 27 20 78 99 42 18.
Lap 136 — 88 loses right-front tire and hits wall.
Lap 131 — 29 passes 18 for 6th.
Lap 128 — 31 is now 3rd, having gotten by 2.
Lap 123 — 16 has stretched lead to 2.373 sec. over 22.
Lap 122 — 78 retakes 8th.
Lap 120 — 88 passes 78 for 8th.
Lap 120 — 16 leads 22 by 1.492 sec.
Lap 116 — 27 passes 78 for 7th.
Lap 115 — Clean air makes all the difference. 16 was slow until he got the lead the first time. Now he's a rocket.
Lap 113 — Three Fords lead: 16 22 2.
Lap 110 — Biffle restarts in the lead for the first time all day.
Lap 107 — Order off pit road: 16 18 2 22 15 31 (2 tires) 56 (gas only) 78 29 27 (4 tires).
Lap 107 — Leaders pitting.
Lap 106 — Caution for debris.
Lap 105 — 55 pits.
Lap 100 — HALFWAY. 78 (+2.028 sec.) 2 22 99 29 88 20 5 16 18 39 55 27 9 15 24 31 56 21 42.
Lap 90 — 78 leads 2 by 1.681 sec.
Lap 83 — 88 passes 11 for 5th.
Lap 81 — 22 passes 11 for 3rd.
Lap 80 — 2 passes 11 for 2nd.
Lap 78 — 78 passes 11 for lead.
Lap 76 — Green flag. 88 has terrible restart and falls from 2nd to 7th.
Lap 74 — New leader, 11, who didn't pit.
88 has led 20 laps so far. Only twice this year has he led more laps: Phoenix (47) and first Michigan (34).
Lap 73 — Leaders pit. Order off pit road: 88 2 78 99 22 20 5 55 99.
Lap 72 — Caution for 17 slapping the Turn 2 wall.
This is only the sixth race in 23 so far this year that the 88 has led.
Lap 70 — 88 (+1.644 sec.) 2 20 31 29 78 16 22 99 17.
Lap 60 — 88 leads 2 by 2.207 sec.
Lap 59 — 48 to the garage with a blown engine.
Lap 56 — 48 makes another pit stop, falls off lead lap. His engine is blowing up.
Lap 55 — New leader, 88. Ahead of 2 by 1.26 sec.
Lap 49 — When stops cycle through, 88 will lead 2 by about 3 seconds.
Lap 46 — 48 pits from lead.
Lap 45 — 5 pits.
Lap 44 — New leader, 48.
Lap 44 — 88, 2 pit.
Lap 43 — 22 20 78 18 pit. Bad stop for 78, as service takes 18 seconds.
Lap 42 — 29 42 99 pit.
Lap 41 — 16 24 and 17 among those pitting.
Lap 39 — 31 pits from 7th.
Lap 38 — 56 leads start of green-flag pit stops.
Lap 35 — Handle going away on the 22. "I just don't get it," says Logano.
Lap 35 — 2 passes 22 for 3rd.
Lap 33 — 78 passes 22 for lead, 88 goes to 2nd. 22 was hung up by lapped car.
Lap 30 — 22 78 88 2 20 31 29 18 56 42.
Lap 30 — Another bad race for the 11. 25th right now.
Lap 24 — 48 is up to 17th after starting in the back.
Lap 19 — 88 challenges 78 for second. Lap 18 — Green flag.
Pit-road speeding penalty for 14.
14 slid up the hill and into the 36.
Lap 14 — Caution No. 3 as 14 & 36 spin.
Lap 12 — Green flag.
Lap 10 — Top 22 cars stay out; many behind pit, including 48.
Lap 10 — 22 78 31 55 88 2 42 18 29 20.
Lap 9 — Caution, 83 into Turn 2 wall.
Lap 8 — 88 passes 2 for fifth.
Lap 6 — 22 takes the lead on the restart.
Lap 6 — Restart coming. Could be a long, crazy race, today.
Lap 3 — 15 had a flat left-rear tire at the start.
Lap 2 — 15 spins on frontstretch. Caution out.
Lap 1 — 78 passes 22 for the lead.
Green flag!
Eighth place and 15th place in points are separated by just 34 points.
Cars rolling off pit road.
Engines fired! This race will be 200 laps, 400 miles.
Welcome to FOXSports.com and our coverage of the Pure Michigan 400 from Michigan International Speedway. Green flag is scheduled for shortly after 1 p.m. ET.
Speeds have been insanely fast with the top 25 cars qualifying at more than 200 mph, including pole-sitter Joey Logano, who set a new track record at 203.949 mph.
Jimmie Johnson will be starting from the back of the field after crashing during the final Happy Hour practice on Saturday and going to a backup car.
