Rain no problem; Logano wins again
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — This time, Joey Logano survived the rain.
Logano passed Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski on a restart in the closing laps Saturday and held off his final challenge to win the Zippo 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International. The race was red-flagged for rain, forcing the drivers to briefly run on grooved rain tires.
“I thought that was going to be my best shot,” Logano said. “I wasn’t going to go all or nothing, but I was able to get all the way to their doors. It’s hard racing at the end. We were going for it.”
Logano, who started from pole, took control with under 10 laps to go in the 82-lap race around the 2.45-mile layout. He dived to the inside on the first turn, making it threewide going through the 90-degree right-hander. The move forced Keselowski, who was leading, wide as Logano assumed the top spot, leaving his teammate behind.
It became a two-car race as Keselowski recovered and the two pulled away. With four laps to go, Keselowski was on Logano’s back bumper as the two sped nose-to-tail. Keselowski lost his chance to challenge for the victory when he skidded out on the first turn with under three laps to go.
“I tried to pull away and I couldn’t,” Logano said. “I knew he was thinking that was going to be his chance. I knew I could drive into that corner pretty hard. We both were pushing the cars as hard as we possible could.”
Logano beat AJ Allmendinger by 3.3 seconds. Justin Allgaier was third, followed by Justin Haley and Aric Almirola. It was Logano’s third victory in the series at The Glen and 30th overall, seventh on the career list. Keselowski finished 10th.
The Penske drivers struggled on rain tires. They weren’t alone.
Rookie Christopher Bell, who leads the points standings and was chasing a record-tying fourth consecutive victory, finished ninth in a race on a track he had never raced on.
“I felt like I was doing OK,” said Bell, who ran as high as fourth. “I was keeping up with the guys in front of me. I passed a couple of guys, so that was a lot of fun, searching for grip. Then the track dried out and it was a subpar day. Not really competitive.”
Bell became the first series driver since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999 to win three consecutive with a victory last week at Iowa. Sam Ard set the record of four consecutive Xfinity Series victories in 1983.