Logano gets ninth win as Sadler’s title hopes crash

Joey Logano celebrates
Getty Images for NASCAR

Joey Logano smoked the field, while Elliott Sadler's title dreams went up in smoke.

Logano dominated Saturday's Great Clips 200, beating new Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brian Vickers to the finish line to win for the ninth time in 21 starts this season, the first time at Phoenix International Raceway and the 18th time in his career.

Sadler's wreck forced the race to a green-white-checkered-flag finish and extended the length of the race from the scheduled 200 laps to 204.

Defending Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran third and opened his lead in the standings to 20 points over Sadler, whose late crash led to a 22nd-place finish.

For the second consecutive year at Phoenix, Sadler's championship hopes took a severe blow. Coming to the white flag in 12th place, Sadler tangled with Cole Whitt's Chevrolet, backed into the outside wall and turned sideways into the path of Richard Childress Racing teammate Brendan Gaughan.

The blow from Gaughan's Chevy tore the nose off Sadler's car. NASCAR red-flagged the race, and Sadler sat in his crippled car, after driving away from the accident scene. Sadler lost a lap in the pits while his car was repaired and rolled across the finish line at half speed.

Sadler started from the rear in a backup car after slapping the wall during qualifying. From the drop of the green flag, he worked his way toward the front, climbing to 18th before John Blankenship's spin on Lap 32 brought out the second caution.

After a two-tire call on Lap 71, under the third yellow for Blankenship's second spin, Sadler restarted eighth. When Paulie Harraka looped his car in Turn 4 on Lap 89, NASCAR called the fifth caution. Sadler stayed out and restarted fourth — and quickly gave back almost everything he had gained to that point.

Sadler went wide on the restart on Lap 95 and nearly lost control of his car. By the time he had regained his momentum, Sadler was 15th and running behind Stenhouse, who had pitted for fuel and tires.

Running 11th on Lap 148 when Mike Wallace tapped Timmy Hill's Chevrolet and sent it spinning, Sadler chose to pit for four tires under caution on Lap 149, leaving him 14 spots behind Stenhouse in fourth for a restart on Lap 154.

Sadler, however, gained five positions to 13th before contact from Kyle Busch's Toyota turned Sam Hornish Jr. on Lap 155. By then, Stenhouse was running second to Logano.

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 1 18 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop / Epic Mickey2 0 204 Running
2 5 20 Brian Vickers Toyota Dollar General 0 204 Running
3 8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Valvoline NextGen 42/1 204 Running
4 2 54 Kyle Busch Toyota Monster Energy 0 204 Running
5 7 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Great Clips 0 204 Running
6 3 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet AdvoCare 38/0 204 Running
7 17 43 Michael Annett Ford Pilot Flying J 37/0 204 Running
8 10 11 Brian Scott Toyota Dollar General 36/0 204 Running
9 6 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge Discount Tire 0 204 Running
10 14 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 34/0 204 Running
11 12 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet Brandt 33/0 204 Running
12 9 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FOE 0 204 Running
13 15 19 Mike Bliss Toyota Bandit Chippers / Embassy Suites 31/0 204 Running
14 4 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Alliance Truck Parts 30/0 204 Running
15 22 199 Alex Bowman Toyota Port of Tucson / Levin Financial 29/0 204 Running
16 20 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves 28/0 204 Running
17 27 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota MacDonald Motorsports 27/0 204 Running
18 36 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet Viva Auto Group 26/0 204 Running
19 34 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet DSTP Motorsports 25/0 204 Running
20 18 14 Eric McClure Toyota Hefty / Reynolds Wrap / Embassy Suites 24/0 204 Running
21 23 108 Paulie Harraka Ford MC10 0 204 Running
22 16 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet OneMain Financial 22/0 204 Running
23 19 10 Jeff Green Toyota G-Oil / Embassy Suites 21/0 201 Running
24 33 73 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Maxelence MVP / Dobson Inn 20/0 200 Running
25 39 44 John Blankenship Chevrolet Coal Save the Country 19/0 200 Running
26 11 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet South Point Hotel & Casino 0 199 Accident
27 42 15 Timmy Hill Ford RWR / Lilly Trucking 17/0 199 Running
28 38 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet iWorld 16/0 199 Running
29 13 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet Takagi 15/0 198 Accident
30 37 39 Dexter Stacey Ford Maddies Place 14/0 197 Running
31 41 124 Derek White Toyota OCR Gaz Bar 13/0 188 Running
32 40 41 Noel Dowler Ford Prairie Tech / Apollo 12/0 182 Accident
33 21 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Phoenix Group Metals / stjude.org 11/0 86 Oil Pump
34 26 86 Kevin Lepage Ford Qello / Kenger Metals 10/0 39 Axle
35 32 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Hyland's / Great Wide Transport 9/0 20 Engine
36 43 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet Koma Unwind 8/0 18 Overheating
37 25 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet The Motorsports Group 7/0 18 Ignition
38 28 47 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 0 17 Rear Gear
39 24 100 Blake Koch Toyota Chasco 5/0 17 Brakes
40 29 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 0 15 Electrical
41 35 175 Carl Long Ford RWR / Lilly Trucking 3/0 12 Brakes
42 30 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 2/0 8 Brakes
43 31 191 Tony Raines Toyota Tri-Star Motorsports / Embassy Suites 0 5 Vibration

* Denotes Rookie