Logano Does the Sweep, Wins Watkins Glen Cup Race

Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

WATKINS GLEN, NY – RIS – Joey Logano had enough fuel this time to finish the distance in winning the Cheezit 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday.  Last week, Logano was leading at Pocono Raceway when he ran out of fuel and finishing down in the field.  That wasn’t a problem at The Glen for Logano who streaked across the finish line under full power, but this time it was Kevin Harvick who came up short.

Logano completed a weekend sweep after winning the Xfinity race on Saturday and gave Roger Penske his first Cup victory at The Glen. Logano also won the season-opening Daytona 500.

"What goes around comes around, I guess," Logano said after a long tire-smoking burnout. "It's cool to get through on the other end. I'm still just trying to catch my breath."

Kyle Busch, who ran out of fuel on the last lap at Pocono while leading after passing Logano last week, finished second and moved to 30th in points, the cutoff to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup title as he continued his remarkable surge.

Harvick coasted home third, Matt Kenseth was fourth, and Kurt Busch fifth. Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Sam Hornish Jr. and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.

On the final lap as Harvick was losing fuel pressure, Logano missed a turn and almost didn’t make it to the finish, but Harvick slowed and Logano got around him with two turns to go. 

“They told me it was the last lap and to go for it,” Logano said.  “I almost put myself out of the race right there.”

Tony Stewart, who qualified third, was competing at Watkins Glen for the first time after missing the previous two Cup races at the track in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York. He was nursing a broken right leg two years ago and sat out last year's race after the sprint car he was driving in a race at nearby Canandaigua struck and killed 20-year-old driver the night before Stewart was scheduled to race at Watkins Glen.

On Friday, Stewart again had to revisit that tragedy. Attorneys representing the Ward family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Stewart, another hurdle in what has been a season without much hope until recently, and Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of Ward's death.

Stewart finished last after his car broke a rear gear midway through the 90-lap race.

In the last road race of his NASCAR career, Jeff Gordon had brake problems and finished 41st to take another big hit in points.

A.J. Allmendinger, the defending race winner and pole sitter gunning for another victory that would have given a second Chase berth for the one-car JTG Daugherty team, led the first 20 laps with Martin Truex Jr. in tow, but he was passed the next time around and dropped to third as the No. 47 Chevy began to fade.

"Sorry, man. I don't think it's going to happen today," Allmendinger told his crew chief.  He finished 24th.

The race turned on strategy. Truex, who started second, pitted after a red flag just past the midpoint of the race as the top eight drivers stayed out.

Harvick, who pitted two laps before Truex, then gained the lead on a restart on Lap 61, passing Kenseth and pulling out to a lead of over a half-second with Truex third.

Harvick's crew told him he was two laps short on fuel as the race wound down, but he did enough conserving to salvage a podium finish. Truex's chances disappeared when he suffered a flat left front tire and was forced to pit with 22 laps left around the 2.45-mile natural terrain course.

Kyle Busch, mired outside the top 20 after having to pit after the red flag, steadily mounted an aggressive charge and was fifth with 10 laps left and charged to second on the final lap.

"I ran hard that whole run," said Busch, who has won four races since coming back from a broken leg and foot suffered in an Xfinity race at Daytona in February that forced him to miss the first 11 races of the Cup season. "I never quite got close enough to him. We couldn't afford to run out of gas. We would have been back in the 30s. We've obviously got something clicking."

It was a Ford sweep for the weekend, something that has been rare in 2015.  Teammate Keselowski finished second in Saturday’s race and seventh on the day.  The performance by the Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing teams overshadowed the usually dominant Hendrick Motorsports teams.  Their highest finisher was Jimmie Johnson, who finished 10th.

The  Sprint Cup drivers now head to Michigan, home of Chevrolet and Ford’s world headquarters for a 400-miler next Sunday.

Unofficial Finish: 30th Annual Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Watkins Glen International

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Pts, BPts, TLd, LLd, Lap, Status
1) 16, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 47, 4, 1, 1, 90, Running
2) 8, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M Crispy Toyota, 43, 1, 1, 3, 90, Running
3) 4, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet, 43, 2, 1, 29, 90, Running
4) 26, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 41, 1, 1, 2, 90, Running
5) 14, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, 39, , , , 90, Running
6) 18, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Maxwell House Toyota, 38, , , , 90, Running
7) 11, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite/Luke Bryan Ford, 38, 1, 1, 27, 90, Running
8) 15, Carl Edwards, No. 19 Stanley Toyota, 36, , , , 90, Running
9) 24, Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Medallion Bank Ford, 35, , , , 90, Running
10) 9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 34, , , , 90, Running
11) 7, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 33, , , , 90, Running
12) 6, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 32, , , , 90, Running
13) 28, Paul Menard, No. 27 Libman/Menards Chevrolet, 31, , , , 90, Running
14) 25, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Cheez-It Ford, 30, , , , 90, Running
15) 20, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 29, , , , 90, Running
16) 21, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 28, , , , 90, Running
17) 22, Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, 27, , , , 90, Running
18) 29, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 26, , , , 90, Running
19) 12, Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Brandt Chevrolet, 25, , , , 90, Running
20) 31, Michael McDowell, No. 95 K-Love Radio Ford, 24, , , , 90, Running
21) 33, Cole Whitt, No. 35 Tweaker Energy Shots Ford, 24, 1, 1, 2, 90, Running
22) 34, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 22, , , , 90, Running
23) 19, David Ragan, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Online Version Toyota, 21, , , , 90, Running
24) 1, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 21, 1, 2, 21, 90, Running
25) 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet, 20, 1, 1, 5, 90, Running
26) 27, Matt DiBenedetto #, No. 83 Burger King/Cosmo Motors Toyota, 18, , , , 90, Running
27) 13, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 17, , , , 90, Running
28) 35, Alex Kennedy #, No. 33 Dream Factory Chevrolet, 16, , , , 90, Running
29) 39, Alex Bowman, No. 7 TBR Chevrolet, 15, , , , 90, Running
30) 42, JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 0, , , , 90, Running
31) 40, Michael Annett, No. 46 Switch Hitch Chevrolet, 13, , , , 90, Running
32) 38, Boris Said(i), No. 32 Genesee Brewing Company Ford, 0, , , , 89, Running
33) 37, David Gilliland, No. 38 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 11, , , , 89, Running
34) 30, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 10, , , , 89, Running
35) 36, Landon Cassill(i), No. 40 Hillman Automotive & Tire Chevrolet, 0, , , , 89, Running
36) 10, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet, 8, , , , 89, Running
37) 32, Chris Buescher(i), No. 34 Bully Hill Vineyards Ford, 0, , , , 88, Running
38) 43, Timmy Hill(i), No. 98 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet, 0, , , , 88, Running
39) 41, Jeb Burton #, No. 26 Maxim Toyota, 5, , , , 88, Running
40) 17, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald's Chevrolet, 4, , , , 86, Running
41) 5, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 3, , , , 86, Running
42) 23, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet, 2, , , , 78, Running
43) 3, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 1, , , , 56, Rear Gear

# = Rookie, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.
Average Speed: 91.420 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 43 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 5.273 Seconds
Lead Changes: 8 among 8 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 16 laps