Joey Logano Finally Wins Again at Talladega

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TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – It had been over a year since Joey Logano drove the No. 22 Ford into victory lane at Richmond International Raceway.  Even though he got the trophy that day, his win was encumbered, so it didn’t count.  That was not the case on Sunday, and as Logano crossed the finish line of the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, he yelled, “Finally,” into the radio.

It was Logano’s third win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at the 2.66-mile track with a team that has mastered the high-banked trioval often in the last few years.

Logano held off the field in the closing laps to give him his first win of the season.

“What a fast Ford,” Logano said. “Teamwork is what did it today. And not just the Team Penske Fords, all of them, Kevin (Harvick), Kurt (Busch)…We got a blue oval back in victory lane, so proud of that.”

Logano snapped a 36 race winless drought dating back to Richmond in April of 2017.  Though it didn’t count Logano and Team Penske consider it a win.

 It was his 19th career Cup win (All-Time Winners).

“We knew the win was right around the corner,” he said. “Man, it just feels so good that gosh, we don’t have to worry about the whole playoff things anymore. We’re in, and gosh, that just feels really good.”

Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five.

“The Fords are so fast, we had five or six of them lined up at the bottom,” Harvick said. “Kurt went to the outside before I was ready to go and ended up getting hung out there”

David Ragan, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez completed the first 10 finishers.

The race was interrupted twice by two massive accidents that involved almost twenty cars all told.

Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard won the opening two stages (2018 Stage Points).

Logano led four times for 70 laps, including the final 43. As the laps wound down to the checkered flag it was difficult for any drivers behind Logano to mount a significant charge and challenge the Ford driver for the top spot and the win. He was able to score the win relatively unchallenged.

There were notable accomplishments in the race. Kurt Busch had his first top-five finish of 2018 and his best finish at Talladega in 35 races. Elliott scored his best restrictor-plate finish in his 10th career start. Harvick notched his first top-five finish at Talladega since he was fifth there in April 2011. Defending race winner Stenhouse Jr. registered his second top-10 finish of 2018, both came in the last three races and he’s finished top-five in three of the last four races at Talladega.

Along with the accomplishments, a lot of drivers did not have the best day. This included the Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray, who got swept up in the accident on the backstretch that also saw Trevor Bayne and Erik Jones, who started the accident, get their cars severely damaged on lap 72.  An even bigger incident happened with 23 laps to go when Jimmie Johnson got loose in front of Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. That triggered a 14-car melee with Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger among the victims. Denny Hamlin had numerous pit road speeding penalties to take him out of contention for the win. He finished 14th.

The race was mild compared to may races at NASCAR’s fastest track.  Despite the multi-car pileups, it was a close race with a winner who needed to win.  The next stop for the Cup drives is Dover, Delaware next Sunday, May 6th. 

Unofficial Race Results for the 49th Annual Geico 500 - Sunday, April 29, 2018 - Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 Mile Paved
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Tms Led, Laps Led, St1, St2, Pts, Playoff Pts, Status
1)        9, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford, 188, 4, 70, 2, 2, 58, 5, Running
2)        2, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, 188, 1, 5, , 8, 38, , Running
3)        5, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 188, , , , , 34, , Running
4)        1, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Beer Flannel Ford, 188, 1, 12, 9, 4, 42, , Running
5)        7, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 188, 1, 4, 8, 5, 41, , Running
6)        12, David Ragan, No. 38 Bad Boy Mowers Ford, 188, , , , 6, 36, , Running
7)        40, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 188, , , , , 30, , Running
8)        11, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 188, 1, 26, , , 29, , Running
9)        18, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 188, , , , , 28, , Running
10)      14, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 188, 1, 1, , , 27, , Running
11)      25, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Degree Chevrolet, 188, 1, 1, , , 26, , Running
12)      16, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 188, , , 10, 7, 30, , Running
13)      19, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Flavor Vote Toyota, 188, , , 4, 10, 32, , Running
14)      4, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 188, 2, 11, 6, , 28, , Running
15)      29, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 188, , , , , 22, , Running
16)      15, Darrell Wallace Jr. #, No. 43 Petty's Garage/Medallion Bank Chevrolet, 188, 1, 5, , , 21, , Running
17)      26, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Procore Safety Qualified Chevrolet, 188, 1, 1, , , 20, , Running
18)      23, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford, 188, , , 7, 3, 31, , Running
19)      33, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Wholey Ford, 188, 1, 6, , , 18, , Running
20)      31, * DJ Kennington, No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota, 188, , , , , 17, , Running
21)      36, Cole Whitt, No. 72 1950 Clothing Company Chevrolet, 188, , , , , 16, , Running
22)      30, * Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 Beard Oil Dist/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 188, 1, 1, , , 15, , Running
23)      32, * Timothy Peters(i), No. 92 Advance Auto Parts/BTS Tire & Wheel Ford, 187, , , , , 0, , Running
24)      37, Gray Gaulding, No. 23 Earthwater Toyota, 187, , , , , 13, , Running
25)      35, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Chevrolet, 186, , , , , 0, , Running
26)      3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, 184, , , 3, , 19, , Accident
27)      34, Joey Gase(i), No. 00 Sparks Inc. Chevrolet, 178, , , , , 0, , Engine
28)      27, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 DC Solar Chevrolet, 174, , , , , 9, , Running
29)      17, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 165, 3, 14, , 9, 10, , Accident
30)      13, Paul Menard, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 165, 1, 8, 5, 1, 23, 1, Accident
31)      8, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Demo Day Ford, 165, , , , , 6, , Accident
32)      20, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops/Roller Bites Ford, 165, , , , , 5, , Accident
33)      10, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Snap On Ford, 165, 4, 21, 1, , 14, 1, Accident
34)      28, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 165, 2, 2, , , 3, , Accident
35)      24, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Scooper Cat Chevrolet, 165, , , , , 2, , Accident
36)      39, Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 Keen's Building/Race to Erase Opioids Ford, 151, , , , , 0, , Engine
37)      38, * Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, 79, , , , , 1, , Suspension
38)      21, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 71, , , , , 1, , Accident
39)      6, Erik Jones, No. 20 XYO Network Toyota, 71, , , , , 1, , Accident
40)      22, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 71, , , , , 1, , Accident

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team

Total Race Length - 188 Laps - 500.08 Miles
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 16 Mins, 46 Secs.
Average Speed: 152.489 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.127 Seconds
Race Comments: Joey Logano won the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his 19th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. 
Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 1, 13, 19 and 31 (backup car), No. 9 (unapproved tire change) and No. 10 (unapproved adjustments). 
Caution Flags: 6 for 29 laps: Laps: 57-61 (Stage 1 Conclusion [38]); 73-78 (No. 1, 6, 10, 20, 42, 78 Incident on the backstretch [72]); 112-116 (Stage 2 Conclusion [95]); 130-133 (Debris on the frontstretch [14]); 156-159 (Fluid on the track from No. 51 [96]); 167-171 (2, 3, 11, 12, 14, 18, 21, 24, 34, 43, 47, 48, 62 and 95 Incident in Turn 3 [11]).
Lead Changes: 25 among 16 drivers: K. Harvick 1-12; A. Bowman 13-38; D. Wallace Jr. # 39-43; B. Keselowski 44-57; A. Allmendinger 58; B. Keselowski 59-61; W. Byron # 62-63; B. Keselowski 64-66; W. Byron # 67; C. Buescher 68; M. DiBenedetto 69-74; J. Logano 75-96; D. Hamlin 97-104; P. Menard 105-112; B. Gaughan 113; W. Byron # 114-124; Kurt Busch 125-129; A. Allmendinger 130; R. Stenhouse Jr. 131-134; D. Hamlin 135-137; J. Logano 138-140; B. Keselowski 141; J. Logano 142-144; D. Suarez 145; K. Kahne 146; J. Logano 147-188.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award:  Chase Elliott, No. 9 
Busch Pole Award:  Kevin Harvick, No. 4 - 194.448 mph
Fastest Lap:  David Ragan, No. 38 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Roush-Yates Engines, No. 22 
Moog Go the Extra Mile:  Ryan Newman, No. 31 crew chief Lucas Lambert, 0.070 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Darrell Wallace Jr, No. 43

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2018, Issue 4, Posted 7:50 PM, 04.29.2018