Joey Logano Dominates To Win Bank Of America 500

The race at Charlotte is the first event of the three-race Contender Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The goofy Joey Logano wheel-shaking is a familiar scene in NASCAR Victory Lanes.

These are the kinds of things that can spoil a season.

My mistakes and they cost us today. “This helps us recharge our batteries and get ready for the next round”. I went around the speedy dry where they laid it on the track and man I flew into the fence. I’m proud of them.

The race was called at 6:55 p.m. – 26 minutes before the race was scheduled to start – with rain still falling and weather radar indicating that it wouldn’t stop anytime soon. All four JGR drivers remain in Chase contention. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 28th and pole-winner Matt Kenseth 42nd. Kenseth needed several repairs, and fell multiple laps down.

“It was just hard work and a never-give-up attitude”.

The field saw the green flag again on Lap 190, with Logano holding on to the lead. Kyle Larson took the blame for a weird crash between him and Busch at the entrance of pit road.

Ryan Newman smiles as he talks to crew members during practice for… He soon thought better of it. When he returned to the track he complained of a tire rub and immediately came back to his pit for more adjustments. This week we had a really fast vehicle. “That definitely hurt our #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, we had a top 10 vehicle before that”.

The top eight from the second round will advance to the third round. But late in the race, not even Harvick had anything for Logano as Logano pulled away in the closing laps. It’s another race on a 1.5-mile track. “One thing led to another and then another”.

“Today, obviously, was a bad day”, he added in a classic case of understatement.

Eau Claire’s Paul Menard was eliminated from the Chase last weekend. “So, yeah, we’d like to go in there with a cushion”. “But, that put us in the wall the first time”. In this year’s spring race Harvick led 91 laps and finished second to his “pal” Jimmie Johnson.

“Logano is the only one who is going to sleep the next few weeks”, Truex said. “And if those are the off-days, we’ll be just fine”. Denny Hamlin, fourth, and Carl Edwards, sixth, saved the day for Gibbs teams. Carl (Edwards) got a great run on me down the front straightaway and just drove in there and the left-rear quarter-panel, I have to look at that to see whether that was a racing deal or whatever.

“That could possibly be one of the biggest moments I’ve ever had at Charlotte if we do that”, he said. He would have to come back to pit road for a pass through penalty.

I also want to make mention of Aric Almirola.

Last year, Kyle Busch finished third and fifth in the first two races and then found himself missing the next round because of a wreck at Talladega.