Logano beats Busch in overtime at Gateway
Harvick crash plays key role
MADISON, Ill. — Joey Logano watched helplessly as Kyle Busch drove away from him on a late restart Sunday, seemingly ending his hopes of delivering a much-needed win for Team Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Kevin Harvick’s wreck with five laps left gave Logano another chance.
He took advantage of overtime, too, winning a drag race with Busch into the first corner in overtime, then jockeying brief ly for the lead, before pulling away to take the white flag and eventually Logano’s second win of the season.
“It doesn’t get much better than that, racing for the lead like that with Kyle, one of the best, crossing each other back and forth,” said Logano, who made it a banner day for Team Penske, which won the IndyCar race with Will Power earlier in the day in Detroit. “I knew it was coming. I did it to him. I knew he was going to do it to me.”
The victory must have felt even sweeter for Team Penske given its recent struggles. In the last five points races, Logano has the only top-10 finish for the entire team with his victory last month at Darlington. Kurt Busch finished second Sunday with Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney, in fourth and Aric Almirola in fifth.
INDYCAR: In Detroit, Will Power had victory within reach on Belle Isle a year ago until a late redflag led to an electrical malfunction that ruined his race.
In his mind, the Detroit Grand Prix owed him one.
And when Power gets his mind set on something, there’s no holding him back.
Power charged from 16th to the win Sunday to close out the Belle Isle era with a Team Penske victory that returned the Australian to the IndyCar points lead.
Power passed teammate and pole-sitter Josef Newgarden on lap 14 and never looked back, leading 55 of the 70 laps as he found himself in “the zone.”
“It’s hard to get to that place. I used to be there a lot often when I was younger,” said the 41-year-old. “It’s just one of those zones where everything’s clicking so well, you’re 100% in the middle, it’s that flow state. Hard to explain. But I would get in that state for qualifying often, pump out some pretty ridiculous laps. That was the race for me. In a really good spot.”
Power held off Alexander Rossi in the closing laps — extending Rossi’s losing streak to nearly three years — for his first win of the season. All three Team Penske drivers have a win through seven IndyCar races this season.
For Power, the 41st win of his career moved him within one of Michael Andretti for fourth place.