Logano Claims Maiden NASCAR Cup Championship
Joey Logano got the better of Martin Truex Jr. on his way to a first NASCAR Cup title.
OMNISPORT
Joey Logano made a daring move to take the lead with 12 laps to go to win the Ford EcoBoost 400 and claim his first NASCAR Cup championship.
The Team Penske driver had a fast car all day, especially on short runs, and his crew consistently got him off pit road with quick stops.
But he had his hands full late in the race, with Martin Truex Jr. out front. The two drivers have had a history the past month, since Logano bumped Truex out of the lead to win the race at Martinsville Speedway, and the two battled fiercely on Sunday, at one point bumping each other with just over 60 laps remaining.
Truex, who had vowed that he would be in an "eye-for-an-eye" situation racing Logano for the championship, never got the chance in the final few laps because of Logano's daring pass.
Logano took the high line around Truex with 12 to go, entering the corner so aggressively many people thought he had gone in too hard. But Logano's Ford stuck to the turn and he blew by Truex.
"My car was really good on entry all day," Logano said, shrugging off any notion he had worried about overdriving that corner.
"I don't know what else I could have done," Truex said. "He passed me so fast."
Afterward, Logano was in tears in victory lane.
Logano, Truex and the two other Championship 4 drivers, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, ran up front all day, often in the top four or five. And they finished that way.
Truex, in his final race with Furniture Row Racing, finished second, with Harvick third and Busch fourth.
Logano was quick to credit his pit crew in victory lane.
"Every individual on that team is the best at their position and they showed it today," Logano said. "I'm so proud of everybody. Everybody rose to the occasion and executed."
The 28-year-old driver now has 21 career wins and one NASCAR Cup championship.