Logano said he was racing for the trophy within immediate reach, not the one possibly awaiting after the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Advertisement
After a wild race at Kansas Speedway, where do NASCAR’s best stand in the chase standings?
With five laps remaining, and after Matt Kenseth took away Logano’s upper lane to force him into the wall, Logano turned Kenseth as they entered Turn 1. But a knockout blow.
“He ran me hard and I ran him hard back… that’s the type of driver I am and the type of racer I’m gonna be and it just comes to that point sometimes unfortunately those things happen”. I think this situation here at the end, as I said earlier, it’s unfortunate. We both went into that corner hard. Yeah, I was running the lane he wanted to run in, but my goodness, isn’t this racing? “So did he. There was only room for one”.
Earnhardt ranks third in laps led at the superspeedway, only behind his father and the recently deceased Buddy Baker.
“I’m one of the only guys that I think hasn’t been into it yet with Joey and I’ve always raced him with a ton of respect”, said Kenseth. I didn’t run into him. He did serious enough damage to the #13 to force the team to break out the back-up auto, meaning that Mears will start Sunday’s race from the back. That’s the way I race.
But others believe that if a driver throws a few blocks, all bets are off. A driver just can’t block and block and block. When asked if he thought Logano wrecked him on objective, Kenseth was direct in his assessment. “We knew it was a little bit of an unknown for us from where we ended (final practice) yesterday”.
The leaders came on to pit road for fuel and tires, with Kenseth retaining the lead ahead of Johnson, Logano, Harvick and Kurt Busch.
Among other ironies, it was Kenseth who became the fourth driver on the Gibbs team under new sponsorship once Logano was let go.
“Two in a row, thats how you do it”, Logano said on the radio after taking the checkered flag. “We’ll just go to Talladega and race him there”.
“That’s the answer that 90 percent of the drivers would tell you is if they’re raced hard, they’re going to race hard back”. I’m excited about our chances at actually winning there. Logano excused his actions as to it being his style of racing and the way most drivers approach the situation – racing hard when a win is on the line. Everyone is fast in the Chase right now, right? Really, for us it’s just about winning trophies.
“We’re able to go into that race and be relaxed and that’s something to feel good about because our goal coming into this weekend was to win the race and keep everyone not feeling too comfortable about Talladega”. Edwards said it worked in the video game and it nearly worked in the race. I got fenced twice. “So, I wasn’t going to put up with it”. A formidable beast that cares not for your Chase hopes, egos or body panels, it’s one that seven drivers will be trying to survive unscathed, and one that four more will be desperately trying to win – or cause a “Big One” trying.
Advertisement
Logano isn’t anxious about retaliation. The caution period was extended to allow the safety team to clear any remaining fluid and debris from the track, in an effort to avoid the issues that occured at Charlotte when several cars were effected by oil remaining on track after crashes. Joey Logano, who has automatically secured a spot in the Eliminator 8 with the victory, won the Bank of America 500 by leading 227 of the 334-lap race. Logano won last year’s Hollywood Casino 400. This marked another day, another step in that direction.
