Logano holds off Larson to win in Kansas

KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 05: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2014 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
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KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 05:  Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2014 in Kansas City, Kansas.  (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 05: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2014 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Joey Logano will be moving on the to the Eliminator round of the NASCAR Chase. He made that a certainty Sunday as he was the class of the field in route to his fifth victory of the season winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.  Logano was able to hold off a hard charging Kyle Larson in the final laps winning by less than a half second.

“It was kind of a cat and mouse game.” Logano said. “He (Larson)  was a little faster at certain points in the run and I was faster late in the run and toward the end he was hitting his stride. I had to take his air away. I was running that top and that was also the lane for him which is what held him up from getting to us. I worked the traffic perfectly and didn’t lose momentum to give up the lead.”

As Logano celebrated his win in the Contender round of the Chase, several of the 12 drivers in the Chase struggled.  Chief among them was Jimmie Johnson. After starting deep in the field, Johnson crashed off turn number 2 on lap 85 after being tapped by Greg Biffle.  He returned but finished 40th, 87 laps down.

“If I can put any blame anywhere it would be on our qualifying effort on Friday,” Johnson said. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.