Logano wins Bristol XFinity race

Joey Logano

Joey Logano grabbed the lead at the first drop of the green flag and led the rest of the way Saturday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, notching his second NASCAR XFINITY Series victory in his third start of the year.

Logano, driving the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, started second and got the jump on pole-starter Erik Jones to put away his 23rd career XFINITY win and his second on the .533-mile track. Jones was credited with leading from the pole, but Logano led Laps 1-300.

Rookie Daniel Suarez posted his career-best finish in second place, marking his first top-five effort in his nine XFINITY starts for Joe Gibbs Racing. His No. 18 Toyota was just ahead of Roush Fenway Racing's Chris Buescher, who took third in the No. 60 Ford.

Jones, Suarez's teammate and last week's first-time XFINITY winner at Texas, held on for fourth place with Richard Childress Racing's Ty Dillon completing the top five. Buescher and Dillon emerged in a tie atop the series standings, but Buescher gets the benefit of the tiebreaker for having a higher finish during the season, second place in the Daytona opener.

Defending series champion Chase Elliott shook off an early issue with his radio communications to finish sixth in the JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevy.

Kevin Harvick's bid for his sixth XFINITY win at Bristol seemed to be short-circuited after he was penalized for speeding on pit road on Lap 177, during the race's fourth caution period. But Harvick rallied over the final third of the race to finish seventh, claiming his fourth top-10 finish in as many XFINITY starts this season.

Mechanical trouble snared two potential contenders before the race was halfway home. Denny Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota slowed in the 115th lap with a rear gearing failure. In the 146th lap, Regan Smith's JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet lost power with a similar issue.

The seventh of 33 races this season for the XFINITY Series was halted by one red flag after JJ Yeley crashed to bring out the eighth caution period of the day. The front splitter from Yeley's No. 28 Toyota became wedged underneath the Turn 3 retaining wall, requiring extra work from the track safety crew to extract it.

NASCAR.com