After a mostly ho-hum Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, chaos in the closing laps set the stage for Joey Logano to swoop in and steal the show. However, thanks to post-race drama, Logano was only able to steal the win. The show belonged, as usual, to Carson Hocevar and his latest rival — Ryan Blaney.
Related: Hocevar, Blaney Exchange Punches in Post-Race Scuffle at Bristol
But for the purposes of this story, let’s give Logano his flowers, as the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion kept his cool in tight confines during the final laps of Saturday night’s race, and as Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs made contact numerous times for the lead, it opened the door for Logano to scoot on by.
“That was awesome,” Logano said of the gift that unfolded in front of him.
Logano, who took the lead with seven laps remaining, wouldn’t look back as he crossed the finish line first, ahead of Kyle Larson by 1.248 seconds.
While Logano did win Stage 1 on a night that he led 93 laps, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford looked no better than a top-five car on the night until all hell broke loose in the closing laps. That’s just fine with him.
“Just, you know, it’s going to get aggressive there at the end. Right place at the right time,” Logano smiled.
With his third win of the season, all of which have come in the last nine races, Logano was able to launch forward four spots in the championship standings, and he now sits just 16 points out of the points lead. Logano, who looked like a championship afterthought before an impressive summer stretch, likes his chances now.
“Our cars have been good. They’ve been getting better. [My crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] has been doing good; Joe has been awesome; the pit crew has been good. I’ve got a great team,” Logano explained. “You know, we’ve got a team that knows how to win championships.”
Logano reached his 40th career victory on Saturday night.
Larson, the runner-up finisher, was able to take advantage of another subpar outing from Denny Hamlin, as he claimed the series point lead. The defending series champion sits one point ahead of Hamlin, who finished eighth on Saturday night.
Carson Hocevar was able to snag a third-place finish on a night when he crashed Ryan Blaney, a fellow championship contender, and then got into a post-race fight with the Team Penske driver. A scuffle that saw both drivers exchange punches.
Christopher Bell finished the night in fourth position, while Ty Gibbs, who looked like he was possibly going to take the M&M’s Kyle Busch tribute car to victory lane, faded to a fifth-place result after pushing and shoving with Hocevar in the closing laps.
Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-10 finishers in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
