Auto racing: Joey Logano takes out Matt Kenseth

Logano had nothing to lose. Kenseth had just about everything.

Joey Logano won the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon following a hectic battle with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Kenseth, giving the Team Penske driver his second consecutive win in the Contender round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. At the green flag, Logano got around Hamlin and took the white flag for the last lap of the race. He raced me hard. I wanted to get position and get to the inside of him, and then he went for the same piece of real estate, as well….

“The race track is 80- or 100-feet wide down there and I was in front of him”.

Logano’s 13th Sprint Cup career win was not without incident. Kenseth ended up finishing 14th, is now 12th in points and in danger of being eliminated following Sunday’s race.

Logano will find out in the next five weeks if he executed an acceptable, aggressive move to the envy of his competitors or one that could eventually turn on him and make his life miserable.

I know it might seem like I’m ragging on Kenseth but I’m not, he is just the most recent case. From there, we had good speed in practice, but we didn’t really have the vehicle where we wanted it on the longer run. He’ll probably sleep good tonight – I hope he enjoys that one. “It’s not what I would have done”. That contact sent Kenseth spinning and vaulted Logano into the lead he would not relinquish.

Busch’s win came after leading just 56 of 204 laps, so you can be forgiven for thinking he won a duel against a very fast Xfinity Series regular. If I get raced like that I’ll race the same way. I’m not going to worry about [wrecking him for a win]. I’m not entirely sure he will, but you can guarantee that he will fight like mad to try.

“I thought we did an excellent job this weekend of controlling the things we could control”, Kenseth said. Strategically, I think it wasn’t the smartest move on his part.

“I think the Chase format was designed to create tension, to create competition and certainly pressure on the teams and the drivers”, Penske said.

Logano was already guaranteed his spot in the next round of the Chase after his victory at Charlotte, though. These drivers are Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Chase contenders Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Brad Keslowski, and Jeff Gordon all finished in the bottom half of the top ten. “All day we had him pretty good. A few of the guys in front of us had a few troubles”.

Often deemed too soft while at JGR – who could blame him considering he had a Cup ride at age 18? The spin would ruin Kenseth’s day and any chance on securing a continuing spot in the Chase.

Martin Truex Jr. suffered a pass-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire on the same pit stop, which dumped both drivers temporarily outside the top 20. Earnhardt finished 21st two laps down.

Hamlin, Busch and Edwards have built a bit of a cushion, but everyone else is hanging in the balance. Ryan Newman is only eight points back.

And from Logano’s perspective, whether he truly meant to wreck Kenseth – and he’s not admitting it if he did – he did what needed to be done for himself and his team.

“A fun race. What a great Shell/Pennzoil Ford”. “I didn’t do anything wrong to him”.

Now Logano is again the toast of the stock vehicle racing world after winning back-to-back races in this season’s Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.