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Joey Logano wins Sprint Cup race

 
Joey Logano celebrates winning his fourth Sprint Cup race of the year and advancing to the next round of the Chase for the Championship.
Joey Logano celebrates winning his fourth Sprint Cup race of the year and advancing to the next round of the Chase for the Championship.
Published Sept. 22, 2014

LOUDON, N.H. — Born in Connecticut, Joey Logano always considered New Hampshire Motor Speedway his home track, where he dreamed of being bathed in confetti and flocked by family and friends in Victory Lane.

Now, 24, winning at New Hampshire means more than a boyhood fantasy fulfilled. It could be Logano's launching pad for his first NASCAR championship.

And Sunday, Logano pulled away on an overtime restart to win the Sylvania 300.

Logano and Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, who won last week's Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship opener at Chicagoland, have advanced to the next round. Four drivers will be elimi­nated after every third race, and a win guarantees a driver of advancing. The first cutoff is after next week's race at Dover International Speedway.

Roger Penske's crew will enter on a roll, having won four of the past five races.

"Confidence is high through the (No.) 22 team right now; all of Team Penske," Logano said. "We feel like we've got some championships to win not only on the Cup side, but Nationwide side. And you've got IndyCar. We're just trying to catch up to them."

Will Power won the IndyCar Series title for Penske last month.

Logano won his fourth race of the season by leading 73 laps and managing a season-high 15 cautions. He took the lead from Kevin Harvick with 27 laps left and went on to his seventh Cup victory overall.

Logano attended his very first NASCAR race at New Hampshire when he was 5, made his first Cup start there in 2008 and won his first race there in 2009. But that was a rain-shortened win, which meant he was denied a traditional celebration.

He took time Sunday for burnouts and a lap around the track holding the checkered flag.

"I just didn't want to come in. I wanted to stay out," Logano said. "I never got out in front of all the fans on the front straightaway before. It was just too cool."

Keselowski led 78 laps before hitting the wall. The 2012 series champion failed in his bid to win a third straight Cup race but salvaged a seventh-place finish.

"We certainly have a lot to be proud of," Keselowski said. "But there's a lot of work to do."

Rookie Kyle Larson was second for his second top-three finish in two weeks.

Chase drivers took seven of the first 10 spots. Harvick, who led a race-high 104 laps, was third, Jimmie Johnson fifth, Tampa's Aric Almirola sixth, Kyle Busch eighth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10th.

Almirola is only 10 points out of 12th and a spot in the next round.

"If we went to Dover 28 points out, we might as well go ahead and just throw in the towel," he said. "But (sixth is) exactly what we needed. We've got to try and put pressure on those other guys."

The 15 cautions wrecked the day for several Chase drivers.

Denny Hamlin had fuel woes and was later collected in a multi­car wreck. Kurt Busch blew a right front tire and spiraled into the wall. Kasey Kahne's crew pounded down damage on his car during a pit stop. Matt Ken­seth spun and hit the wall. And Jeff Gordon brought out a caution with nine laps left when his right front tire went down. All finished outside of the top 20 with Busch 36th and Hamlin 37th.

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"You know on performance, you deserve to move on," said Hamlin, who fell five places to 13th in the standings. "In this three-race section, you can't have one bad week. You've got to be flawless.

"It's frustrating. But what can you do about it?"