Joey Logano wins his first Cup road race at Watkins Glen

Joey Logano wins at Watkins Glen; sweeps weekend.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – A week after running out of fuel while leading with three laps left at Pocono, Joey Logano finished off an unprecedented weekend sweep at Watkins Glen International with his first road course victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Pressuring race leader Kevin Harvick over a 30-lap green-flag run to the finish of Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Logano made the winning pass through the final two corners at the 2.45-mile road course as Harvick ran out of fuel in Turn 6.

Picking up his second victory of the season and the 10th of his career, Logano crossed the finish line 5.273 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch, who grabbed second place as Harvick coasted over the stripe to secure third.

Matt Kenseth came home fourth, and Kurt Busch recovered from a pit road penalty (crewmen over the wall too soon) to finish fifth, as Logano became the first driver ever to win both the XFINITY and Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International in the same weekend.

"I’m still just trying to catch my breath," Logano said after climbing from his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. "I was really excited after that one. I was running down Harvick there for a little bit, and once I got close to him, he started to pick up his pace a little bit, which was good, because I needed him to run out of gas.

"I started to catch him a little bit, and I drove into (Turn) 1 too hard (on the final lap) and started to wheel hop. I just about lost it, and at that point you just hope he runs out of gas, which he did in the last corner. It makes up for last week. We lost the race last week the same way, so it makes up for it to get it this week."

Logano led only one lap — the last one.

With Logano’s victory, every driver who has won a race this season — with the exception of Kyle Busch — has clinched a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, assuming each starts the remaining races of the regular season. Busch cracked the top 30 in the standings for the first time after returning from an 11-race injury absence.

With four victories, Busch must simply finish the 26-race regular season four races hence in the top 30, and that was the primary reason he didn’t make a harder push to catch Logano in the closing laps.

"I think that was some of (crew chief) Adam (Stevens’) worry, too," said Busch, who like Logano, had pitted for fuel under caution on Lap 58 of 90 and who, like Logano, had run out of gas in the closing laps at Pocono. "We couldn't afford running out of gas like we did last week and taking home an even worse finish this week, because of how many cars finish on the lead lap typically at a road course.

"We'd be back in the 30s somewhere. I'm sure that was weighing on Adam's mind on being able to save it and make it to the end and just playing it a little bit more cautious, which is fine. I'm with Adam 100 percent of the way all the time."

The race dealt potentially devastating blows to several drivers hopeful of qualifying for the Chase on points.

Jeff Gordon had brake problems almost from the outset and finished 41st, dropping two spots to 12th in the standings. Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet was the victim of a hard wreck when the field accordioned behind Sam Hornish on a restart on Lap 49; he fell two positions in the points to 17th, outside the window for making the Chase.

Jamie McMurray’s Chevrolet ran into the back of Logano’s Ford on that same restart, crushing the nose of the car. McMurray came home 40th and dropped one position to ninth in the standings.

If there are no more first-time winners in the next four weeks, and if Kyle Busch remains in the top 30, there will be five Chase spots available on points. Currently, the top five drivers in the standings without a victory are McMurray, Paul Menard, Gordon, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.

Notes: Polesitter and defending race winner AJ Allmendinger led the first 21 laps, but an alternator problem relegated him to a 24th-place finish… Tony Stewart started third but retired in 43rd place after 56 laps because of a rear gear failure… Harvick led a race-high 29 laps, two more than Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, who pitted with Busch and Logano under caution on Lap 58 and worked his way up to seventh at the finish.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Cheez-It 355 At The Glen -

Watkins Glen International 
Watkins Glen, NY
Sunday, August 9, 2015
 

            1. (16)   Joey Logano, Ford, 90, $263,723

            2. (8)     Kyle Busch,  Toyota, 90, $205,441

            3. (4)     Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 90, $189,675

            4.(26)    Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 90,$153,761

            5.(14)    Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 90, $119,600                  

            6.(18)    Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 90, $139,273                    

            7.(11)    Brad Keselowski, Ford, 90, $140,406

            8.(15)    Carl Edwards, Toyota, 90, $87,740                    

            9.(24)    Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 90, $112,510                  

            10.(9)    Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 90, $128,626                      

            11.(7)    Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 90, $99,340                     

            12.(6)    Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 90, $110,873                 

            13.(28)  Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 90, $89,640                  

            14.(25)  Greg Biffle, Ford, 90, $111,873             

            15.(20)  Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 90, $111,640             

            16.(21)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 90, $120,451                       

            17.(22)  Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, $86,690                    

            18.(29)  Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 90, $104,048               

            19.(12)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 90, $101,673              

            20.(31)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 90, $74,315                

            21.(33)  Cole Whitt, Ford, 90, $91,123

            22.(34)  Trevor Bayne, Ford, 90, $117,890                      

            23.(19) David Ragan, Toyota, 90, $103,604                    

            24.(1)    AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 90, $114,073

            25.(2)    Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 90, $102,335

            26.(27)  Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 90, $86,787                       

            27.(13)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 90, $90,390                   

            28.(35)  Alex Kennedy #, Chevrolet, 90, $75,240             

            29.(39) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 90, $75,065                 

            30.(42)  JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 90, $75,915            

            31.(40)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 90, $71,765              

            32.(38)  Boris Said(i), Ford, 89, $71,540             

            33.(37)  David Gilliland, Ford, 89, $79,390                      

            34.(30)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 89, $79,265             

            35.(36)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 89, $71,090            

            36.(10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 89, $107,846                 

            37.(32)  Chris Buescher(i), Ford, 88, $70,779                  

            38.(43)  Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 88, $65,902                  

            39.(41)  Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 88, $61,830                     

            40.(17)  Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 86, $87,821            

            41.(5)    Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 86, $102,366                

            42.(23)  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 78, $67,830                 

            43.(3)    Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 56, $73,544

  

Average Speed: 91.420 MPH    
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory: 5.273 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 16 laps: Laps: 26-28 (Debris Turns 6 and 7 [26]); 33-35 (Debris Esses [16]); 47-49 (#3 Accident Backstretch [43]); 51-54 (Fluid On The Track [Red Flag 9:03] [3]); 58-60 (#14 Stopped On Track [47]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 8 drivers
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 1-20; M. Truex Jr. 21-25; A. Allmendinger 26; C. Whitt 27-28; B. Keselowski 29-55; Kyle Busch 56-58; M. Kenseth 59-60; K. Harvick 61-89; J. Logano 90;
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Harvick, 1 time for 29 laps; B. Keselowski, 1 times for 27 laps; A. Allmendinger, 2 times for 21 laps; M. Truex Jr., 1 time for 5 laps; K. Busch, 1 time for 3 laps; M. Kenseth, 1 time for 2 laps; Cole Whitt, 1 time for 2 laps; J. Logano, 1 time for 1 lap.
Chase Grid Outlook: 1.J. Johnson 747 (4 wins);2.Kyle Busch (4); 3.K. Harvick 823 (2);4.J. Logano 781 (2);5.D. Earnhardt Jr. 750 (2);6.M. Kenseth 703 (2);7.Kurt Busch 659 (2);8.B. Keselowski 719 (1);9.M. Truex Jr. 714 (1);10.D. Hamlin 631 (1);11.C. Edwards 589 (1);12.J. Mcmurray 635 (0);13.P. Menard 622 (0);14.J. Gordon 620 (0);15.R. Newman 613 (0);16.C. Bowyer 612 (0).