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NASCAR: Logano wins Atlanta crashfest

Posted by AR1 staff

After out of control Fords took out all the top Chevy cars, Joey Logano zoomed to his first victory of the NASCAR Cup Series season, edging out former teammate Brad Keselowski with a last-lap pass Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Logano started from the pole and kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford in the lead for 140 of the 260 laps in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400. Logano’s first win at the 1.54-mile Georgia track was the 32nd of his Cup Series career.

Joey Logano celebrates his victory in the Ambetter Health 400. (Photo courtesy: Harold Hinson Photography)

“(This is) so special to win Atlanta for me,” Logano reflected after the race with a grin stretching as long as the Atlanta Motor Speedway track. “So many memories of me and my dad racing right here on the quarter mile. This is the full circle for us. So many memories gritting over there with the Legends car, racing, having a big time. Dreaming of going straight at the quarter-mile and going on to the big track. That was always the dream to do it. To finally win here means so much to me here personally, but the team.

Logano’s 32nd career win ties him with Dale Jarrett for 27th on the all-time list. The No. 22 car has three top-10 finishes on the season.

Keselowski was the hard-luck runner-up, 0.193 seconds behind at the checkered flag. He led the preceding 29 laps and was in front at the white flag, but he was unable to block Logano’s momentum on the last circuit. Christopher Bell placed third with Corey LaJoie fourth and Tyler Reddick at the end of the top five.

The race went relatively clean through the opening two stages, but two crashes at the front of the pack slowed the final run to the finish. Kevin Harvick lost control of his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford through Turns 1 and 2, triggering a crash with 71 laps remaining that officially involved 12 cars.

Harvick led just one lap and was relegated to a finish outside the top 30. The crash also eliminated last year’s race winner William Byron, who was bidding for his third consecutive Cup Series victory.

Aric Almirola led 17 laps but spun out of the top spot after a blown Goodyear tire on his No. 10 SHR Ford. As it veered through Turn 4, he collected the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, who ended his 300th Cup Series start early. Both drivers were out, 52 laps short of the scheduled distance.

“There was nowhere to go,” said Larson after the typical NASCAR crap shoot Superspeedway race. “Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 (Aric Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react.

“It’s a bummer. Just frustrating.. I was finally upfront on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF. I don’t know, just frustrating.”

Race Results

# DENOTES ROOKIE
(i) NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
(*) REQUIRED TO QUALIFY ON TIME

Caution Flags: 5 for 34 laps; Laps: 11-15 (No. 23 Incident Backstretch [None]); 62-67 (Stage 1 Conclusion [23]); 162-168 (Stage 2 Conclusion [78]); 191-199 (Nos. 4, 17, 9, 24, 1, 8, 45, 23, 14, 3, 21, 78 Incident Backstretch [12]); 210-216 (Nos. 10, 5, 99, 45, 31 Incident Turn 4 [14]).

Lead Changes: 20 among 13 drivers; J. Logano 1-63; C. Ware 64; K. Busch 65-69; R. Blaney 70-74; K. Busch 75-76; J. Logano 77-131; C. Buescher 132-136; C. Bell 137-142; J. Logano 143-159; A. Cindric 160-164; A. Almirola 165-168; R. Stenhouse Jr. 169-175; D. Hamlin 176-188; K. Harvick 189; R. Chastain 190-194; D. Hamlin 195; A. Almirola 196-208; B. Keselowski 209-226; J. Logano 227-230; B. Keselowski 231-259; J. Logano 260.