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22nd
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From nascar.com
Out of the maelstrom that was New Hampshire Motor Speedway sped Joey Logano, who took control of Sunday's Sylvania 300 on a restart with 27 laps left and held on to win the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
But the crux of Sunday's race wasn't about Logano's fourth victory of the season and the second straight for Team Penske in the Chase. It wasn't about Logano winning for the seventh time in his career and punching his ticket into the second elimination round under NASCAR's new playoff format.
It wasn't about Sunoco rookie Kyle Larson posting his second straight top-three finish. Yes, Larson ran second, passing third-place finisher Kevin Harvick on a green-white-checkered flag restart that took the race three laps past its scheduled distance, but Larson was almost an afterthought amid the chaos that scrambled the Chase standings.
It wasn't about another strong run for Jamie McMurray, who finished fourth, or about a top-five for six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who came home fifth.
It wasn't about the crazy afternoon of polesitter Brad Keselowski, who ran back and forth through the field like a yo-yo, spun on lap 194 of a scheduled 300 and nevertheless had a chance to win the race at the end before falling back to seventh on the restart that took the race to overtime.
No, the crux of the race wasn't about the winner. It was about those who survived the crucible of pressure the Chase creates -- and those who didn't.
It was about uncharacteristic mistakes on pit road. It was about the aggression and desperation on the track that left the cars of six of 16 Chase drivers in relative states of damage and disrepair, including Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.
NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings':
• Brad Keselowski, 2097 points
• Joey Logano, 2096
• Kevin Harvick, 2090
• Jimmie Johnson, 2080
• Kyle Busch, 2077
Etc.
Out of the maelstrom that was New Hampshire Motor Speedway sped Joey Logano, who took control of Sunday's Sylvania 300 on a restart with 27 laps left and held on to win the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
But the crux of Sunday's race wasn't about Logano's fourth victory of the season and the second straight for Team Penske in the Chase. It wasn't about Logano winning for the seventh time in his career and punching his ticket into the second elimination round under NASCAR's new playoff format.
 |
| Start of the Sylvania 300. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR) |
It wasn't about Sunoco rookie Kyle Larson posting his second straight top-three finish. Yes, Larson ran second, passing third-place finisher Kevin Harvick on a green-white-checkered flag restart that took the race three laps past its scheduled distance, but Larson was almost an afterthought amid the chaos that scrambled the Chase standings.
It wasn't about another strong run for Jamie McMurray, who finished fourth, or about a top-five for six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who came home fifth.
It wasn't about the crazy afternoon of polesitter Brad Keselowski, who ran back and forth through the field like a yo-yo, spun on lap 194 of a scheduled 300 and nevertheless had a chance to win the race at the end before falling back to seventh on the restart that took the race to overtime.
No, the crux of the race wasn't about the winner. It was about those who survived the crucible of pressure the Chase creates -- and those who didn't.
 |
| Joey Logano, winner of the Sylvania 300. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR) |
It was about uncharacteristic mistakes on pit road. It was about the aggression and desperation on the track that left the cars of six of 16 Chase drivers in relative states of damage and disrepair, including Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.
NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings':
• Brad Keselowski, 2097 points
• Joey Logano, 2096
• Kevin Harvick, 2090
• Jimmie Johnson, 2080
• Kyle Busch, 2077
Etc.