Logano takes playoff bid on road at ‘Glen’
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Joey Logano isn’t quite ready to push the panic button as NASCAR’s playoff season looms.
At least he knows what will ease his mind — winning one of the next five races.
“I’m not sure it’s even a must-win yet, but it’s getting closer to that point,” Logano said Saturday before Cup practice on the road course at Watkins Glen. “This is one of our best shots, but we also have some great racetracks coming up. We’ve won at four of the next five. We know we can do it.”
Logano has a victory already, but NASCAR ruled that his win at Richmond in April was “encumbered,” so it won’t count toward a playoff berth.
Logano has become a fixture in the playoffs and has made the final round two times in the three years the current format has been in place. The only time he failed was when he was intentionally wrecked by Matt Kenseth at Martinsville in 2015. That year, he led the series with six wins and appeared to be the driver to beat.
But this summer hasn’t been kind to him. In the last 10 races, Logano has six finishes outside the top 20, and last week at Pocono the No. 22 Penske Ford team self-destructed with pit road problems. He had to make three stops late and finished 27th, leaving him 69 points behind Kenseth in the race for the final berth in the playoffs.
Both Logano and Clint Bowyer, who enters today’s race just 17 points behind Kenseth, have road-course wins on their Cup resumes — Logano at Watkins Glen two years ago and Bowyer at Sonoma in 2012. Bowyer finished second at Sonoma in June behind Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, and at Watkins Glen International he’s earned one top-five and four top-10s. Kenseth has never won on a road course.
Logano has emerged as a real threat at this track. He’s won two straight races in the Xfinity series and finished second last year in the Cup race to Denny Hamlin.
Infinity Zippo 200
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — If Kyle Busch seemed to take a bit longer to take his customary bow after a NASCAR victory, it was understandable. It’s nice to savor milestone victories.
Busch recovered from a spinout and a pit-road penalty and survived a late restart to win the Zippo 200 on Saturday, his first triumph at Watkins Glen International in the Xfinity series. It also was the first Xfinity victory at Watkins Glen for Joe Gibbs Racing and the company’s 139th win overall in the series, breaking a tie with Roush Fenway for the top spot.
“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been so close so many times,” Busch said. “I knew I just had to not screw it up.”
Busch topped the Penske Racing duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski and easily beat them on a restart with three laps to go for his 90th series win. Watkins Glen International and Pocono were the only tracks currently on the Xfinity schedule where Busch had not won. He’s also won on every track in the Cup series except Charlotte.
Logano was second in his bid to win this race for the third-straight time from the pole and Keselowski was third, followed by Justin Allgaier and Paul Menard.
Logano and Keselowski had dominated the previous two Xfinity races at Watkins Glen. In 2015, Logano led 39 laps, one fewer than his teammate, and they finished 1-2. A year ago Logano led 67 laps, including the final 27, for his second straight victory from the pole.