Logano scores milestone win at Michigan

Joey Logano scored his first win of the year with victory at Michigan International Speedway on a banner day for Team Penske with its 50th NASCAR triumph with the Blue Oval.

It was also the 100th race win for Roush Yates Engines.

Starting from pole position Logano led 138 of the 200 laps, heading home Chase Elliott on what is also considered the home track for Penske. It was his 15th Sprint Cup career win, making him the 10th winner this season.

Logano was the class of the field, with one of the keys being restarts after caution periods. The race featured new aerodynamic rules designed to reduce downforce and sideforce. The effect was destabilisation, especially on restarts.

Logano was untouchable on the final three restarts as he repeatedly pulled away at the wave of the green flag.

“What a great race car. To win here in Roger’s backyard and Ford’s backyard, this is always a big win for us here,” said Logano.

“What a crazy race with the low downforce and with more cautions and more opportunity to screw up pretty much.

“The cars didn’t have much grip and there was a lot of sliding around.

“Catching the traffic at the right time and knowing which lanes work best for you and understanding the cars that you are racing.

“We had plenty of opportunity to see what others cars were good on restarts and you kind of keep that mental notebook as you go.”

Kyle Larson came home third in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had tough outings. Busch was sidelined early with an engine failure, marking a fourth-straight finish of 30th or worse for the reigning Sprint Cup champion.

Earnhardt was caught up in a crash that also forced AJ Allmendinger out of the race. Rookie Chris Buescher slid up into Earnhardt and then into Allmendinger.

Also having a wild ride was Denny Hamlin who turned around at the start/finish line and just missed the pit wall before hitting the inside fence at pit exit.

NASCAR has a rare weekend off before heading to the first of two road course races of the year at Sonoma Raceway outside San Francisco.

VIDEO: Race wrap

RESULTS: FireKeepers 400 – Michigan International Speedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MAKE	START	LAPS	LAPS LED	STATUS	POINTS	BONUS PTS
1	22	Joey Logano	Ford	1	200	138	Running	45	5
2	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	10	200	35	Running	40	1
3	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	7	200	1	Running	39	1
4	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	15	200	10	Running	38	1
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	29	200	0	Running	36	0
6	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	11	200	0	Running	35	0
7	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	3	200	0	Running	34	0
8	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	8	200	0	Running	33	0
9	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	14	200	0	Running	32	0
10	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	17	200	0	Running	31	0
11	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	6	200	1	Running	31	1
12	78	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	2	200	10	Running	30	1
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	23	200	0	Running	28	0
14	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	19	200	0	Running	27	0
15	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	13	200	0	Running	26	0
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	16	200	4	Running	26	1
17	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	5	200	0	Running	24	0
18	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	32	200	1	Running	24	1
19	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	18	200	0	Running	22	0
20	34	Chris Buescher	Ford	22	200	0	Running	21	0
21	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	25	200	0	Running	20	0
22	23	David Ragan	Toyota	35	200	0	Running	19	0
23	15	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	34	200	0	Running	18	0
24	95	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	21	200	0	Running	0	0
25	38	Landon Cassill	Ford	28	200	0	Running	16	0
26	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	30	200	0	Running	15	0
27	55	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	36	200	0	Running	14	0
28	46	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	39	200	0	Running	13	0
29	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	12	199	0	Running	12	0
30	30	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	37	197	0	Running	11	0
31	98	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	40	194	0	Running	10	0
32	13	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	24	189	0	Running	9	0
33	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	4	188	0	Accident	8	0
34	83	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	31	185	0	Running	7	0
35	7	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	33	179	0	Running	6	0
36	44	Brian Scott	Ford	26	154	0	Accident	5	0
37	32	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Ford	38	101	0	Accident	4	0
38	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	20	62	0	Accident	3	0
39	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	27	61	0	Accident	2	0
40	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	9	52	0	Engine	1	0

 

STANDINGS

POS	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	STARTS	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	DNF
1	Kevin Harvick	526	Leader	15	1	7	12	0
2	Kurt Busch	496	-30	15	1	5	13	0
3	Brad Keselowski	480	-46	15	2	6	10	0
4	Carl Edwards	472	-54	15	2	5	10	2
5	Joey Logano	455	-71	15	1	5	9	2
6	Chase Elliott	453	-73	15	0	6	11	1
7	Jimmie Johnson	441	-85	15	2	6	7	1
8	Martin Truex Jr	433	-93	15	1	2	6	0
9	Kyle Busch	417	-109	15	3	9	9	4
10	Matt Kenseth	409	-117	15	1	2	6	2
11	Dale Earnhardt Jr	383	-143	15	0	5	6	4
12	Austin Dillon	381	-145	15	0	3	7	1
13	Denny Hamlin	380	-146	15	1	4	6	3
14	Jamie McMurray	374	-152	15	0	1	3	0
15	Ryan Newman	369	-157	15	0	0	4	1
16	Ryan Blaney	364	-162	15	0	1	6	1
17	Kasey Kahne	353	-173	15	0	2	5	1
18	Trevor Bayne	345	-181	15	0	1	3	0
19	Kyle Larson	341	-185	15	0	3	4	2
20	AJ Allmendinger	337	-189	15	0	1	3	1
21	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	337	-189	15	0	1	2	1
22	Paul Menard	289	-237	15	0	0	1	3
23	Clint Bowyer	270	-256	15	0	0	2	1
24	Greg Biffle	267	-259	15	0	0	0	3
25	Danica Patrick	265	-261	15	0	0	0	3
26	Aric Almirola	264	-262	15	0	0	0	3
27	Landon Cassill	237	-289	15	0	0	0	0
28	Casey Mears	221	-305	15	0	0	0	0
29	David Ragan	208	-318	15	0	0	0	2
30	Brian Scott	197	-329	15	0	0	0	1
31	Regan Smith	186	-340	15	0	0	1	2
32	Chris Buescher	182	-344	15	0	0	0	2
33	Michael McDowell	161	-365	12	0	0	0	0
34	Matt DiBenedetto	158	-368	15	0	0	1	4
35	Tony Stewart	152	-374	7	0	0	2	1
36	Cole Whitt	133	-393	13	0	0	0	4
37	Michael Annett	124	-402	15	0	0	0	3
38	Brian Vickers	86	-440	5	0	0	1	1
39	Josh Wise	72	-454	13	0	0	0	3
40	Jeffrey Earnhardt	48	-478	9	0	0	0	1
41	Reed Sorenson	46	-480	9	0	0	0	3
42	Michael Waltrip	42	-484	2	0	0	0	0
43	Bobby Labonte	34	-492	2	0	0	0	0
44	David Gilliland	24	-502	1	0	0	0	0
45	Robert Richardson	3	-523	1	0	0	0	1
46	Ty Dillon	0	-526	7	0	0	0	0
47	Jeb Burton	0	-526	1	0	0	0	0
48	Joey Gase	0	-526	3	0	0	0	0
49	Ryan Ellis	0	-526	1	0	0	0	0