Logano bumps Byron in victory
Driver spins rival on next-to-last lap to get home in first
Joey Logano bumped leader William Byron from behind on the last lap to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.
Logano, the pole-sitter, tracked Byron for about 25 laps until catching him with one to go and hitting him hard in the rear bumper. Byron slid into the wall and Logano went on to his first win of the season and first at the track “Too Tough To Tame.”
Byron, who signed a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports, seemed as if he’d keep up his team’s dominant season over the final laps. Instead, Logano broke a 40-race winless drought.
Tyler Reddick was second followed by Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Christopher
Bell, Michael Mcdowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez.
Byron fell to 13th and was not happy with Logano’s tactics.
“He’s just an idiot,” Byron said. “He does this stuff all the time, I’ve seen him do it with other guys.”
Logano led 109 of the 293 laps and reached victory lane for the first time since winning on the dirt at Bristol in 2021.
Formula One: His first day racing around the new Formula One circuit in Miami was absolutely horrible. Then he made a mistake in qualifying that cost him a spot on the front row. By the time race day rolled around, Max Verstappen had knocked it all out of his system. Verstappen was explosive at the start Sunday and used a pair of aggressive passes to get past Ferrari and current championship leader Charles Leclerc. Once out front, the reigning world champion controlled the inaugural Miami Grand Prix for his third win in five races to start the season. “We still have a few issues we have to solve,” Verstappen said. “I mean, we are quick, but my Friday was terrible, which is not great. But there’s a lot of potential.” The 23rd win of the Dutchman’s career sliced eight points off Leclerc’s lead in the standings. Verstappen now trails him by 19 points headed into the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks.