Logano wins Talladega as stars miss the playoff cut

Joey Logano has kept the field at bay to score victory at Talladega Superspeedway, as the field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup was cut to eight.

Although Logano didn’t actually need to win at Talladega, he found the safest place was up front and out of any clashes that could occur in the pack.

His only issue coming during a pit stop when he left the pit road with the jack stuck underneath one side. He drove around the entire 2.66-mile track and returned to the pits where his crew removed it.

Some concern with debris on the front of the car and rising water temperatures, but being at the front of the pack again helped in that situation.

Then not even late cations in the race and an overtime finish could stop Logano who beat home an impressive Brian Scott, who scored his best-ever Sprint Cup series result.

“We got that track position and just hung onto it,” said Logano.

“I was able to stay on the bottom and try to run the bottom and keep everyone in line, and that worked out really well.

“It was fun racing there at the end.”

As good as it was for Logano, it was disappointment for his Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski who had an engine failure; the same infliction for Martin Truex Jr. Both missed the cut along with Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott.

The eight drivers still in contention for the NASCAR Sprint Cup are Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch.

Of note, Hamlin and Dillon tied for the final transfer spot. Hamlin’s better race result (3rd at Talladega) earning him a place to the next round as compared to Dillon’s sixth place at Kansas.

VIDEO: Race Highlights

RESULTS: Hellmann’s 500 – Talladega Superspeedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MAKE	START	LAPS	LAPS LED	FINAL STATUS	POINTS	BONUS POINTS
1	22	Joey Logano	Ford	16	192	45	Running	44	4
2	44	Brian Scott	Ford	25	192	0	Running	39	0
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	8	192	12	Running	39	1
4	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	7	192	0	Running	37	0
5	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	6	192	6	Running	37	1
6	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	24	192	0	Running	35	0
7	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	22	192	0	Running	34	0
8	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	26	192	0	Running	33	0
9	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	9	192	1	Running	33	1
10	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	32	192	0	Running	31	0
11	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	15	192	3	Running	31	1
12	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	4	192	9	Running	30	1
13	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	10	192	0	Running	28	0
14	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	20	192	0	Running	27	0
15	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	5	192	13	Running	27	1
16	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	34	192	0	Running	25	0
17	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	11	192	0	Running	24	0
18	15	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	36	192	0	Running	23	0
19	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	23	192	0	Running	22	0
20	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	30	192	0	Running	21	0
21	38	Landon Cassill	Ford	31	192	0	Running	20	0
22	34	Chris Buescher	Ford	33	192	0	Running	19	0
23	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	17	192	0	Running	18	0
24	23	David Ragan	Toyota	40	192	0	Running	17	0
25	7	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	29	192	0	Running	16	0
26	99	Ryan Reed	Ford	18	192	0	Running	0	0
27	93	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	35	192	0	Running	14	0
28	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	3	192	1	Running	14	1
29	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	13	192	1	Running	13	1
30	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	14	192	2	Running	12	1
31	32	Bobby Labonte	Ford	38	192	0	Running	10	0
32	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	21	192	1	Running	10	1
33	46	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	37	192	6	Running	9	1
34	83	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	39	192	0	Running	7	0
35	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	27	191	0	Running	6	0
36	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	19	191	0	Running	0	0
37	55	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	12	179	0	Running	4	0
38	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	2	144	90	Engine	5	2
39	13	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	28	113	0	Accident	2	0
40	78	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	1	41	2	Engine	2	1

 

STANDINGS

POS	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	STARTS	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	DNF
1	Joey Logano	4000	Leader	32	2	13	22	3
2	Jimmie Johnson	4000	Leader	32	3	9	14	4
3	Kevin Harvick	4000	Leader	32	4	15	24	3
4	Matt Kenseth	4000	Leader	32	2	7	16	4
5	Carl Edwards	4000	Leader	32	2	8	17	5
6	Denny Hamlin	4000	Leader	32	3	11	18	4
7	Kurt Busch	4000	Leader	32	1	8	20	2
8	Kyle Busch	4000	Leader	32	4	14	21	5
9	Martin Truex Jr	2191	–1809	32	4	7	15	2
10	Brad Keselowski	2168	–1832	32	4	15	21	2
11	Austin Dillon	2163	–1837	32	0	4	13	2
12	Chase Elliott	2156	–1844	32	0	9	15	2
13	Kyle Larson	2155	–1845	32	1	8	13	2
14	Tony Stewart	2141	–1859	24	1	5	8	4
15	Jamie McMurray	2110	–1890	32	0	1	10	2
16	Chris Buescher	2109	–1891	32	1	2	2	4
17	Kasey Kahne	803	–3197	32	0	3	12	1
18	Ryan Newman	794	–3206	32	0	2	9	2
19	AJ Allmendinger	717	–3283	32	0	2	7	4
20	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	717	–3283	32	0	4	6	3
21	Ryan Blaney	713	–3287	32	0	3	8	2
22	Trevor Bayne	699	–3301	32	0	2	5	2
23	Danica Patrick	621	–3379	32	0	0	0	3
24	Greg Biffle	591	–3409	32	0	1	3	7
25	Paul Menard	591	–3409	32	0	0	2	6
26	Aric Almirola	573	–3427	32	0	0	1	6
27	Clint Bowyer	564	–3436	32	0	0	3	2
28	Casey Mears	488	–3512	32	0	0	0	2
29	Landon Cassill	465	–3535	32	0	0	0	1
30	Dale Earnhardt Jr	461	–3539	18	0	5	6	4
31	Brian Scott	423	–3577	32	0	1	1	5
32	Michael McDowell	421	–3579	27	0	0	1	2
33	David Ragan	420	–3580	32	0	0	0	5
34	Regan Smith	408	–3592	31	0	1	2	5
35	Matt DiBenedetto	347	–3653	32	0	0	1	9
36	Michael Annett	285	–3715	31	0	0	0	4
37	Cole Whitt	276	–3724	26	0	0	0	5
38	Jeff Gordon	183	–3817	7	0	0	1	0
39	Reed Sorenson	175	–3825	24	0	0	0	4
40	Josh Wise	167	–3833	27	0	0	0	7
41	Jeffrey Earnhardt	126	–3874	18	0	0	0	2
42	Brian Vickers	86	–3914	5	0	0	1	1
43	Bobby Labonte	61	–3939	4	0	0	0	0
44	David Gilliland	46	–3954	2	0	0	0	0
45	Michael Waltrip	42	–3958	2	0	0	0	0
46	Boris Said	17	–3983	1	0	0	0	0
47	Patrick Carpentier	11	–3989	2	0	0	0	0
48	Eddie MacDonald	5	–3995	1	0	0	0	0
49	Alex Kennedy	5	–3995	1	0	0	0	1
50	Robert Richardson	3	–3997	1	0	0	0	1
51	Alex Bowman	0	–4000	7	0	0	2	1
52	Ty Dillon	0	–4000	10	0	0	0	0
53	Dylan Lupton	0	–4000	2	0	0	0	0
54	Ryan Reed	0	–4000	1	0	0	0	0
55	Jeb Burton	0	–4000	2	0	0	0	0
56	Joey Gase	0	–4000	5	0	0	0	0
57	Ryan Ellis	0	–4000	3	0	0	0	0
58	Timmy Hill	0	–4000	1	0	0	0	0
59	Justin Allgaier	0	–4000	1	0	0	0	1
60	Cody Ware	0	–4000	0	0	0	0	0