Joey Logano won a high speed chess match Saturday night. Logano held off Kevin Harvick over the course of the final 63 laps to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Penske Racing driver and the reigning NASCAR champion dueled through heavy lapped traffic at the high speed high half-mile with Harvick getting to the back bumper, or underneath the Ford of Logano several times only to see Logano move out of range. Harvick had one last shot at Logano on the final lap, but had nothing for him as Logano went on to score his third victory of the season and defend his race win from last year’s night race at Bristol.
“It was kind of interesting to watch it in the mirror,” Logano said. “I was watching him drive in and I was like, ‘He’s going to get me eventually,’ so I just wanted to make sure I stayed at least three or four car lengths up on him so he didn’t get to me.”
The second place for Harvick was also hard fought. He was penalized for speeding on pit road twice and had to make up many spots to get back to the front. He never led a lap but was still pleased with his tenth second place finish of the year since his last win in March.
“That’s half the races that we’ve run so far,” Harvick said MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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