Logano wins crash-filled Chase race at New Hampshire

Sep 22, 2014 - 12:22 AM Loudon, NH (SportsNetwork.com) - Joey Logano has advanced into the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship by winning Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a race plagued with accidents that involved several of the Chase members.

Logano took the lead from Kevin Harvick following a restart with 30 laps to go and then held off the field in a pair of restarts in the closing laps, including one for a green-white-checkered finish, before crossing the finish line 1.15 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kyle Larson, a rookie this season.

Logano, who hails from nearby Middletown, Connecticut, scored his fourth win of the season and the seventh of his Sprint Cup Series career. His first victory in the series occurred in a rain-shortened race at this flat 1.058- mile New England track during his 2009 rookie season. Logano's Cup debut also happened here in September 2008.

"This is my home racetrack, the coolest place to win for me," said Logano, who drives the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske. "I could never pick a better racetrack to win. I watched my first Cup race here when I was five. I won that other Cup race here (in June '09), but I just felt like I had to win one the right way here, and this means so much."

Logano led three times for a total of 73 laps.

Penske now has both of its drivers moving on into the "Contender Round," which includes the Chase races at Kansas (Oct. 5), Charlotte (Oct. 11) and Talladega (Oct. 19). Logano's teammate, Brad Keselowski, won last weekend's Chase-opener at Chicagoland. Next Sunday's race at Dover is the last one in the "Challenger Round."

"We're doing what we've got to do to win this thing right now - both teams are - and I'm proud of that," Logano added.

Keselowski started on the pole and a total of 78 laps, including the first 37. But Keselowski fell as far back as 22nd following the opening round of pit stops, in which he was the only driver who made a four-tire change during that round. He also hit the wall after he made contact with Matt Kenseth on lap 194, sustaining minimal damage to the rear of his No. 2 Ford.

"We had a lot of adversity," Keselowski said. "I made a few mistakes that got us behind, but (crew chief) Paul Wolfe and the crew did a great job of getting us back in position. It was kind of an up-and-down day, and I guess we ended on an OK note. We finished seventh, but I was definitely looking for more than that."

Harvick, who led the most laps with 104, ended up finishing third.

Logano is only one point behind Keselowski, while Harvick trails by just seven points. That puts Harvick in a very comfortable position to make the 12-driver cut for the Contender Round if he does not win at Dover.

"We had a fast car," Harvick said. "Track position is tough, and it wound up being really hard racing there. Brad moved me out of the way, and I got up out of the groove. And then at the end there, NASCAR must not be able to see the lines on the restart there because the No. 22 (Logano) was way early all day. But all in all, we did what we had to do, and I just enjoyed racing that hard."

Jamie McMurray, who is not in the Chase, placed fourth, while Jimmie Johnson, the six-time and defending series champion, was fifth.

There were 15 cautions in this race -- a season-high in the series. On lap 292, Jeff Gordon cut his right-front tire and slammed hard into the wall while coming out of turn 1. Gordon managed to finish as the last car on the lead lap in 26th. He was coming off a second-place run at Chicagoland.

"I thought we had an awesome race car, but it doesn't matter if you blow a right-front tire," Gordon said. "I'm pretty sure we cut something. I felt it go down about three-quarters of the way down the front straightaway, and there is just nothing you can do. Just go along for the ride and hope the damage isn't too bad, which we were very fortunate to still end up on the lead lap."

Gordon dropped from second to seventh in the Chase standings (-27).

Shortly after a restart on lap 297, Tony Stewart spun around in turn 4 when he made contact with David Gilliland. It forced the final caution and set up the two-lap overtime finish.

Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kenseth, all of whom are in the Chase, were involved in wrecks as well.

Busch had significant damage to the front end of his Toyota when he ran into the back of Kenseth, who got loose while battling McMurray for position. Busch then spun out when Kasey Kahne bumped him from behind. He was able to stay on the lead lap, pitting multiple times for repairs during the caution, and rebounded nicely with an eighth-place finish, one spot ahead of fan favorite and title contender Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I just hate that we got messed up there," Busch said. "Kenseth was trying to race with the guy in front of him (McMurray) and pass him, but he got loose. I checked up but not quick enough. I hit him, but then the guy behind me (Kahne) just drove right through me."

Kenseth, who has not won a Sprint Cup race since New Hampshire one year ago, finished 21st.

Hamlin had the worst result among the 16 drivers currently competing in the Chase. In the early going, Hamlin had to pit several times due to an issue with the fuel probe on his Toyota. It put him four laps behind at the time. Then he was caught up in a four-car wreck on lap 180. He wound up finishing 38 laps down in 37th place.

"We somehow couldn't get fuel in the car, or there was something going on. I'm not sure what it was," Hamlin said. "You just can't have any mistakes in this three race deal - from the driver, from the crew, the team - no one can really make a mistake in three races. And unfortunately no one did. It's just we had a mechanical failure that really hasn't bitten us in a while, and it's untimely."

Hamlin fell from sixth to 13th in Chase points (-48). Kurt Busch also took a big hit in the standings, as he dropped six positions to 15th (-50) with a 36th-place finish. Busch crashed into the wall on lap 221.