Big day for Logano, Fords
Two winners emerge at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. – While Joey Logano was enjoying the end of a drought Sunday, the car he was driving was celebrated for yet another seasonal achievement.
Logano held off several pretenders to win Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, marking his first victory since a tainted win at Richmond Raceway in April 2017. The fruits of that Richmond victory spoiled after NASCAR ruled it would not qualify Logano for the playoffs, and his season soured from there. He didn’t win again and was a high-profile absentee from the lateseason battle for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Although Logano has had good runs this year, he hadn’t cracked victory lane until Sunday, when Ford Fusions dominated the show, even though a big wreck late in the race took out some of the Blue Oval’s key threats.
Ten races into the season, Ford has won half of them, and this in a lameduck vehicle. Ford has plans to stop production of the Fusion street car, and the model will disappear from NASCAR tracks next season as the Mustang rides in.
Departing is such sweet sorrow. Three Ford drivers — Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Logano — have won races, and an outnumbered Chase Elliott was the only Chevrolet driver remaining to engage in futile battle with the Fusions at the end of Sunday’s race.
Logano’s victory brought an end to Kyle Busch’s three-race winning streak, as Toyotas were generally non-combatants Sunday with only 12 laps led. Fords led 126.
In addition to ending a year of trials and troubles, Logano had a special afternoon in victory lane. It was his first win since the January birth of his son, Hudson, and the baby and his mom, Brittany, were part of the celebration.
“When I turned around (in victory lane) and saw Hudson and Brittany over there, I may have cried a little bit,” Logano said. “It’s just cool, you know. It’s a different feeling. Everyone always says, ‘You won’t understand until you have kids.’ I always kind of shook my head.
“Now having a little guy, seeing him there — he may not remember, but for me that was very special.”
As for his Team Penske crew and the future, Logano said the win should open the door for more.
“Any time you go through times of trial like that, that’s very challenging for everyone,” he said. “If you can get through that together, you’re stronger. For that reason, I feel like my team’s never been stronger.
“I feel like we still need to make our cars a little bit faster. As a race-car driver, I think I’ll say that forever. You’re never fast enough, but we’re getting closer. We proved that.”