Sprint Cup regular Joey Logano won Sunday’s rescheduled Drive For the Cure 300 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“It was fun to race a car with no points and nothing to lose,” Logano told NBCSN. “I was huffing and puffing and giving it all I had.”
But more importantly for the 12 drivers who were looking to advance to the Round of 8 in the inaugural Xfinity Chase for the Championship, eight moved on and four others didn’t.
Advancing were Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Reed, Erik Jones, Blake Koch and Darrell Wallace Jr.
Drivers that fell short and were eliminated from further advancement in the Chase are Ty Dillon (who missed advancing by just one point), Brennan Poole, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.
MORE: Xfinity Series: Results of Drive For the Cure 300 at Charlotte
Logano led just 12 laps in the 200-lap event. Sadler finished second, followed by Suarez, Kyle Larson (who led a race-high 165 laps), Erik Jones, Allgaier, Kevin Harvick, Matt Tifft, Brad Keselowski and Sieg.
How Logano won: It was basically a matter of patience for the Sprint Cup regular. He took the lead for the first and only time on Lap 189 and held on for the remaining 12 laps to take the checkered flag.
Who else had a good day: Kyle Larson led the most laps (165) and appeared to be headed towards the win. However, Logano got past him and Larson didn’t help his cause when he skimmed the outside wall, dropping him from a potential win or second-place finish to a fourth place showing.
Who had a bad day: The four drivers who missed advancing to the Round of 8. Ty Dillon was particularly emotional about falling short of advancing by one point.
Notable: Logano’s crew chief, Brian Wilson, won his first race as an Xfinity Series crew chief. ... Darrell Wallace Jr. finished 20th, the lowest-finishing Chase driver, but still advanced to the Round of 8 by just one point.
Quote of the day: “We were terrible today and didn’t give ourselves much of a shot. For whatever reason, our car was not the same today. … It’s heartbreaking. We couldn’t even stay on the lead lap. It’s very upsetting. I wanted this championship so bad. It hurts.” – Ty Dillon, who fell short of advancing to the Round of 8 by one point, on NBCSN.
What’s next: Kansas Lottery 300, Saturday, Oct. 15 (3 p.m. ET), Kansas Speedway.
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