Shame on you. In an even year, admit it: you counted Joey Logano out as a championship contender.
I’ll be honest: while he was struggling mightily and sitting below the Chase cutline after 20 races, I started to count him out, too. However, after an incredible five-race stretch, Joey Logano now has two wins and momentum on his side, with The Chase just two races away.
Logano’s latest triumph, the 39th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, came in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, as he was able to hold off Chase Briscoe in the closing laps. The win, Logano’s second in his last four starts, should serve as a warning shot to the rest of the field because “Even-Year Logano” is back.
Race Results: Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway
“Don’t let the boys get hot. We’re pretty strong right now,” Logano boasted with a smile on his face. “Awesome to see the speed in the 22 again. Gosh, it was a great car. We’ve had a great car here the last five races.”
When asked point-blank if he feels he and his No. 22 Team Penske group are capable of another championship-winning run this season, Logano fired back, “I think so. We got a strong team, no doubt.”
While it wasn’t a win for Chase Briscoe, the runner-up finish on Saturday night was a confidence booster for the driver, who had never finished inside the top-10 at Richmond Raceway in his career prior to the Cook Out 400.
“It’s weird to be running second here,” Briscoe admitted. “This has been a real struggle to me, this place. I think that’s my first-ever top-10 here even. To get close, not get it done is so frustrating.”
Austin Cindric came home third in a very strong evening for the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang, and boy, was that finish what the doctor ordered for Cindric.
Cindric came into Saturday night as the final driver inside the 16-driver Chase Grid. With the top-five run, Cindric moved up to 15th in the standings, and he now holds a 57-point lead over the cutline with two races until The Chase begins.
Denny Hamlin nabbed a fourth-place run at his hometown track, a track that honored his family with a special section of seats at the facility earlier in the weekend.
Chase Elliott was the top Chevrolet driver and top Hendrick Motorsports performer, as he finished fifth, one spot ahead of Kyle Larson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.
Christopher Bell saw a late-race pit strategy negate his shot at a win, but he would still finish seventh, while Josh Berry, William Byron, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-10 finishers in the Cook Out 400.
Ryan Preece, who finished 17th, is the first driver on the outside looking in of the Chase for the championship, and he trails Shane van Gisbergen, who finished 14th, by 50 points with two races remaining.
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, August 23. That race will be televised on USA Network, and TV coverage is set to kick off at 3:00 PM ET. The Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast for that race.
