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Joey Logano broke the ice for Roger Penske and Penske Racing with a dominating weekend winning from the pole at the Pure Michigan 400.
It's the first win for Penske in the Sprint Cup series since it left Dodge for Ford. And, it was Logano's first win of the year, third of his career.
For Penske it was a special day “as I go back 30 years or so at this track this is one of the biggest wins. With Joey coming on board and his first win in the Shell Pennzoil car and our relationship now with Ford. It is my home state, home track and Detroit is my city. You couldn't put it all together like we did today,” he said.
Win the victory Logano went 16th to 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, 17 points out of 10th place. The youngest winner in MIS history also is in play for a Wild Card, with two spots available to the drivers in positions 11-20 in the standings with the most victories.
The race boiled down to a driver who took a fuel risk versus a more conservative pit stop strategy.
Mark Martin took off after a restart on Lap 178, as Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick battled for the second spot behind him. But Martin was short on fuel, and after the running order shuffled out with Logano in second and Harvick in third, the pursuers began to close in on the leader.
When Martin slowed in Turn 3 on Lap 197, Logano shot past him into the lead with Harvick in hot pursuit. In the end Logano took the checkered flag by 1.018 seconds over the No. 29 Chevrolet.
"I knew (Martin) was two laps short," Logano said from victory lane. "I wanted to get by him though, in case they were fooling with me. Just getting in that clean air means so much."
Harvick said, on being second, “just miss‑timed that last restart there. I had a great run on the 55(Martin). Was going to beat him to the line by too much, wound up having to drag the brakes. From there, it was going to be sketchy if we were going to keep the 22 (Logano) back there.
“We stuck with our game plan,” said third place Kurt Bush. “At one point we were buried deep, 14th on one of the restarts. I was a little frustrated at that point, knowing we had a much better car. But our weaknesses were restarts today, trying to maneuver in traffic.
“But lo and behold, got fired up, sometimes I get lucky, and opening opened up on the outside. I think I came on that restart from 14th to sixth. It was a game‑changer. That one moment was our race.
Points leader, Jimmie Johnson, blew an engine early in the race, but still became the first driver locked into the 12-driver Chase.
In a related development AJ Allmendinger, driving a Mustang for Penske, took the inaugural Nationwide Series race at the Mid-Ohio road course on Saturday.
It's the first win for Penske in the Sprint Cup series since it left Dodge for Ford. And, it was Logano's first win of the year, third of his career.
For Penske it was a special day “as I go back 30 years or so at this track this is one of the biggest wins. With Joey coming on board and his first win in the Shell Pennzoil car and our relationship now with Ford. It is my home state, home track and Detroit is my city. You couldn't put it all together like we did today,” he said.
Win the victory Logano went 16th to 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, 17 points out of 10th place. The youngest winner in MIS history also is in play for a Wild Card, with two spots available to the drivers in positions 11-20 in the standings with the most victories.
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| Joey Logano (Photo: Penske Racing) |
The race boiled down to a driver who took a fuel risk versus a more conservative pit stop strategy.
Mark Martin took off after a restart on Lap 178, as Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick battled for the second spot behind him. But Martin was short on fuel, and after the running order shuffled out with Logano in second and Harvick in third, the pursuers began to close in on the leader.
When Martin slowed in Turn 3 on Lap 197, Logano shot past him into the lead with Harvick in hot pursuit. In the end Logano took the checkered flag by 1.018 seconds over the No. 29 Chevrolet.
"I knew (Martin) was two laps short," Logano said from victory lane. "I wanted to get by him though, in case they were fooling with me. Just getting in that clean air means so much."
Harvick said, on being second, “just miss‑timed that last restart there. I had a great run on the 55(Martin). Was going to beat him to the line by too much, wound up having to drag the brakes. From there, it was going to be sketchy if we were going to keep the 22 (Logano) back there.
“We stuck with our game plan,” said third place Kurt Bush. “At one point we were buried deep, 14th on one of the restarts. I was a little frustrated at that point, knowing we had a much better car. But our weaknesses were restarts today, trying to maneuver in traffic.
“But lo and behold, got fired up, sometimes I get lucky, and opening opened up on the outside. I think I came on that restart from 14th to sixth. It was a game‑changer. That one moment was our race.
Points leader, Jimmie Johnson, blew an engine early in the race, but still became the first driver locked into the 12-driver Chase.
In a related development AJ Allmendinger, driving a Mustang for Penske, took the inaugural Nationwide Series race at the Mid-Ohio road course on Saturday.