Joey Logano made a picture-perfect move on the final lap, blocking to hold off late surges by Brian Scott, Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon, to win Saturday’s Winn Dixie 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
“That was intense,” Logano said over his team radio after taking the checkered flag.
It was Logano’s second career Xfinity win at Talladega (also won in 2012), his second victory in NASCAR’s junior league this season and 24th career triumph.
“It’s a combination of the old school draft and cars hooking up and bumping,” Logano said. “It’s so intense out there and your mind is looking at everything in the mirror the whole time. It’s just so cool to get to Victory Lane.”
Brian Scott rallied to finish second, followed by Dillon, JJ Yeley and Joey Gase. Buescher placed sixth,
There were six cautions, and four involved multiple cars.
On Lap 39, defending Xfinity champion Chase Elliott cut a right front tire while leading, and his car slammed into the outside wall. Elliott’s car suffered significant damage and finished 37th.
On Lap 73, a 10-car wreck occurred as several cars tried to reach pit road, bringing out a red flag for cleanup.
Among those involved were Daniel Suarez, Ryan Reed, Ryan Sieg, Kenny Wallace, Gase, Brendan Gaughan and Ty Dillon. Gaughan lost control after the wreck and slammed hard into the pit wall after bouncing off teammate Ty Dillon.
Gaughan’s car struck the pit sign for Aric Almirola’s team when he hit the wall, whipping the sign into the crew. Two crew members were injured. One was treated and released from the infield care center, while the other was sent to a local hospital by ambulance for evaluation and treatment.
UPDATE: Troy Ward, was released from Trinity Medical Center, a team spokesman confirmed Saturday night.
How Logano won: Logano actually made three different moves on the final lap to keep Elliott Sadler at bay, as well as to make a couple of late blocks to hold off the late surge by Buescher and Ty Dillon.
Who else had a good day: Scott was just one position from earning his first career Xfinity Series win after 184 starts. Scott rallied from sixth to second on the last lap. “I wanted it so bad,” Scott told FOX Sports. “These things always seem to kind of snakebite me, so I’ll take it.”
Who had a bad day: Because of wrecks, several drivers saw what appeared to be promising days end prematurely. Among those: Brendan Gaughan (finished 39th), Chase Elliott (37th), Kasey Kahne (33rd), Daniel Suarez (31st) and Erik Jones (30th).
Notables: Also having a good day was JJ Yeley, who finished fourth, and Joey Gase, who recorded a career-best fifth-place finish. … Aric Almirola also had a strong day, consistently in the top 10 before finishing 10th.
Quote of the day: “I don’t know if they don’t pay attention or don’t realize it, but when you’re pitting and start sliding up, get the hell out of the way and get down. Talladega’s easy to get down on to pit road, just get out of the way. People don’t get out of the way or try to come from the outside and chaos happens. … It just pisses me off, it’s not that tough to get onto pit road here, and for some reason, guys can’t figure it out.” – Brendan Gaughan, who got caught up in a multi-car wreck on Lap 73.
Standings: Ty Dillon remains in first in the Xfinity Series point standings, Chris Buescher (nine points out of the lead) gained one place to once again take over second place, Chase Elliott (-37) dropped one position to third place, Darrell Wallace Jr. (-37) and Regan Smith (-43) remained unchanged in fourth and fifth place respectively, Brian Scott (-44) gained three spots up to sixth, Elliott Sadler (-48) and Ryan Reed (-75) remained in seventh and eighth respectively, Daniel Suarez (-760 moved up one spot to ninth, and Brendan Gaughan (-81) dropped four spots to 10th.
Next race: Sunday, May 17, Iowa Speedway.
FINAL RESULTS:
1 Joey Logano … 113 laps
2 Brian Scott … 113 laps
3 Austin Dillon … 113 laps
4 JJ Yeley … 113 laps
5 Joey Gase … 113 laps
6 Chris Buescher … 113 laps
7 Elliott Sadler … 113 laps
8 Ty Dillon … 113 laps
9 Regan Smith … 113 laps
10 Aric Almirola … 113 laps
11 Landon Cassill … 113 laps
12 Jeffrey Earnhardt … 113 laps
13 Benny Gordon … 113 laps
14 David Starr … 113 laps
15 John Wes Townley … 113 laps
16 Boris Said … 113 laps
17 Jeremy Clements … 113 laps
18 Peyton Sellers … 113 laps
19 Mario Gosselin … 113 laps
20 Darrell Wallace Jr. … 113 laps
21 Eric McClure … 113 laps
22 Dakoda Armstrong … 113 laps
23 Blake Koch … 113 laps
24 Cale Conley … 113 laps
25 Ross Chastain … 111 laps
26 Derek White … 111 laps
27 Mark Thompson … 111 laps
28 Brennan Poole … 110 laps
29 Ryan Sieg … 107 laps
30 Erik Jones … 105 laps
31 Daniel Suarez … 101 laps
32 Ryan Reed … 99 laps
33 Kasey Kahne … 98 laps
34 Mike Bliss … 98 laps
35 Chad Boat … 97 laps
36 Harrison Rhodes … 84 laps
37 Chase Elliott … 84 laps
38 Kenny Wallace … 72 laps
39 Brendan Gaughan … 72 laps
40 Charles Lewandoski … 3 laps
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