Bump leads to win and hard feelings
Logano called a ‘moron’ by Byron for aggressive move at Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — After William Byron squeezed him against the wall on a final restart, Joey Logano knew what he’d do if got the chance to regain the lead.
Logano bumped Byron from behind on the next-to-last lap to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Byron hit the wall in turn three and Logano went on to his first win of the season and first at the track “Too Tough To Tame.”
“There’s something to be said for an angry race car driver,” said Logano, who broke a 40-race winless drought.
Logano, who started from the pole, had one of the strongest cars all day and was in front coming out of the pits before a restart with 25 laps left. But Byron, who started low, forced Logano into the wall and out of the lead.
“If someone’s going to be willing to do that to you, then the gloves are off,” Logano said.
Byron was not happy with the maneuver, calling Logano an “idiot” and a ”moron” who has raced others questionably throughout his career.
The fans at Darlington let the Team Penske driver know what they thought, booing the 2018 NASCAR champion when he got out of his car.
“I’ve been called a lot of things, a lot worse than moron,” Logano said.
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. He said the restart was just close racing and Byron didn’t deserve a hard hit on the rear bumper so close to the end.
“He slammed me so hard, it knocked all the right side off the car and sent me into the corner,” Byron said. “He’s just a moron. He can’t win a race, so he does it that way.”
Logano led 108 of the 293 laps and reached Victory Lane for the first time since winning on the dirt at Bristol in 2021.
It was the first time the new Next Gen car was took on NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway and the results were mixed. The racing was strong, although several of the top competitors didn’t last to the end.
Reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson was out with engine failure after 112 laps. Past champions Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski were also out well before the finish.
Larson was the betting favorite to win for the first time at Darlington. But the defending Cup series champion continued his tough luck at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway. Larson, starting second, led 30 of the first 32 laps before spinning out on lap 54 and falling to 29th.
Larson had worked his way into the top 10 early in stage two before returning to the pits where his crew popped the hood. They couldn’t get the car refired — “I’ve got, like, no power,” Larson told them — and rolled him into the garage.
It’s been that kind of stretch for Larson, who was second in his past three races at Darlington. At a tire test here last month, Larson hit the wall twice early on.
It’s the fourth time in 12 races this season Larson was out before the end.
“Bummer,” Larson said. “But the positive is we were really fast.”
The series moves to Kansas Speedway, where Kyle Busch is the event’s defending champion. Kyle Larson won the October race in Kansas.
FORMULA ONE: In Miami Gardens, Florida, Max 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.
He celebrated on the podium with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who represented the host Miami Dolphins in presenting Verstappen with his winning trophy and an official helmet.
The race itself wasn’t the thriller the 85,000 in attendance Sunday breathlessly expected when they snagged one of the hottest tickets in sports. Promoters never had a general ticket sale because of crushing early demand and the campus surrounding Hard Rock Stadium was the place to party over the last three days.
Whether it was at the man-made beach club where musical acts have entertained since Friday or the “marina” that docked 10 boats on plywood covered in a decal to resemble rippling water, F1 got the sun, sand and Miami backdrop it wanted when it agreed to this 10-year deal.
Come race day, the celebrities were out in full force. Dwyane Wade took selfies on the starting grid and Paris Hilton danced in front of the McLaren garage; Tom Brady, David Beckham and Michael Jordan posed for a pre-race picture with Lewis Hamilton, who hosted former first lady Michelle Obama on Saturday at the track. Serena Williams ducked into Mercedes’ hospitality and Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny arrived at the venue with Perez and spent most of pre-race at Red Bull with the Mexican driver.
The Miami event gives the U.S. two F1 races in one season for the first time since 1984. F1 will add Las Vegas as a third American race in 2023.
It was a strange event for Haas F1, the only American team on the 20-car grid. The team split its strategy between Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher following the late safety car and Schumacher was in position to score the first points of his career and give Haas its best finish in the United States.
But Schumacher inexplicably ran into Sebastian Vettel to end his breakout day. He finished 15th and Magnussen retired one lap from the end.
“It was the hardest race I’ve ever done, it was unbelievably hot,” Magnussen said.
Schumacher said he was “gutted” he didn’t finish inside the top 10.
“I think it was our best race so far this year,” he said. “We were on the road to getting points, but we’ll have to wait some more.”