Kansas win is Logano’s ticket for Chase
The victory gives Joey Logano a spot in the next NASCAR championship round.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Joey Logano grabbed the first berth into the next round of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
Logano’s win advanced him into the Chase’s third round, which begins after stops at Charlotte and Talladega. Four drivers will be cut from the 12- driver field after Talladega.
“Getting us to the next round, that’s awesome,” said Logano, who is guaranteed one of eight spots in the eliminator round. “This is so much fun, I’m having a blast this year, andw e’ve got a real shot to win this championship. I feel like we’re one of the teams to beat.”
The victory was Logano’s fifth this season, a career record, and ties with him Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski for most in the Sprint Cup Series.
Kyle Larson— who is not part of the Chase— finished second and was followed by championship- eligible driver Kyle Busch, who finished a career- best third at a track where he has continuously seen his title hopes fall apart.
“I won today,” Busch said, “I just didn’t get champagne and a trophy.”
Kansas is noted for destroying the championship chances of many a driver, and Sunday saw four Chase drivers finish 22nd or worse. That included three of the Hendrick Motorsports cars — and six- time and defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson, who spun during Friday qualifying and started 32nd, was mired in thick traffic when he was hit by Greg Biffle 85 laps into the race. He was forced to take his Chevrolet to the garage for repairs and finished 40th.
“It just means we’ve got to be on our game at Charlotte and Talladega,” Johnson said. “We’ll see how the other Chasers fare. If I can get taken out today, somebody else can later in this event or at Charlotte. Certainly need Ws, I would assume, going forward.”
He was spot on about other Chase drivers having problems. Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leading when a flat tire put him into thewall. He finished 39th after leading 45 laps in what had been shaping up to be his strongest race in this Chase.
“Just the whole surface of the tire unwound like a string. It just came off the tire and it popped off the corner,” said Earnhardt. “Man, thatwas a great race car. We hadn’t been running very good the last severalweeks.”
Keselowski was the next to suffer a tire problem that sent him into the wall. He finished 36th.
Kasey Kahne was the third Hendrick driver to see his day fall apart when he hit thewall. Hefinished 22nd.
With so many drivers experiencing tire problems, Kevin Harvick grew nervous when his car suddenly struggled to turn. He radioed his Stewart- Haas Racing team and pitted under green from third place.
Crew chief Rodney Childers told Harvick that the tires were fine, but the damage was done: Harvick, who led 61 laps prior to his pit stop, had dropped to 23rd and had to charge his way back to a 12th- place finish.
Pressure is on some of NASCAR’s top drivers. They must be perfect nextweek at Charlotte to avoid putting their title hopes on the line at Talladega, a notorious crapshoot of a race.