NASCAR News: Logano denies Bell in South Point 400 in Vegas

On a day when the majority of NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs drivers suffered setbacks, Joey Logano rolled to victory Sunday with the help of some pit-strategy smarts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, clinching a spot in the Championship 4 field.

Logano savored a relatively clean day in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, leading just the last six of the 267 laps in the South Point 400. His third win of the season was his fourth on the 1.5-mile Vegas track and the 35th of his Cup Series career.

Christopher Bell led a race-high 155 laps and wound up second, 0.662 seconds behind in the N0. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Daniel Suárez placed third with William Byron fourth and Alex Bowman completing the top five.

Logano — who found new life in the playoffs after Bowman’s disqualification in the Round of 12 finale last weekend — will bid for the Cup Series championship in the Nov. 10 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Most of the eight remaining playoff drivers were not as fortunate.

A multicar crash at the start of Stage 2 snared playoff-eligible competitors Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. Elliott and Blaney were able to continue with damage, but Reddick was sidelined to a 35th-place finish when his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota rolled over in a wild slide through the infield on the front straightaway. Reddick, the Cup Series’ Regular Season Champion, had led nine laps and won Stage 1.

Both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson endured issues on pit road. Hamlin had a pair of sluggish stops, including a major issue at the Stage 2 break when he was forced to reverse back into his pit stall after his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew needed to tighten his left-rear tire. He finished eighth.

Larson, who entered as the Cup Series points leader, fell back after a miscue forced him to make an additional green-flag stop during Stage 2. He brought his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road for a lengthy stop on Lap 125, then pitted again three laps later to change the left-rear tire. He fell from the lead to 31st place, two laps down, then rallied to finish 11th on the lead lap.

The Cup Series will continue the Round of 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday.

South Point 400 Race Results