{"id":19326,"date":"2015-10-12T09:46:51","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T16:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=19326"},"modified":"2015-10-12T09:59:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T16:59:11","slug":"joey-logano-takes-it-to-the-bank-at-charlotte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/joey-logano-takes-it-to-the-bank-at-charlotte\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Logano Takes It to The Bank at Charlotte"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASCAR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good now,\u201d shouted a jubilant Joey Logano over his Team Penske\u2019s radio just after taking the checkered flag of the rain-delayed Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Logano, pushing his Pennzoil Ford to victory lane for the fourth time in 2015, led an incredible 227 circuits at Charlotte in holding off a gritty Kevin Harvick by 0.703 of a second at the finish.\u00a0 The big bonus for the No. 22 team is getting an automatic pass to the Elite 8 Eliminator Round with Kansas next week and the one track everyone is talking about – Talladega – in two weeks.<\/p>\n

“This makes Talladega way easier,” said a relieved Logano.\u00a0 “I know that\u2019s on everyone\u2019s mind when this round starts, and last year we won Kansas when it was the first race of this round and now we were able to get it this time at Charlotte.\u00a0 We\u2019ll now be able to get a lot of sleep the next couple of weeks.”<\/p>\n

Watching his mirror, Logano knew what Harvick unleashed in Dover last weekend and wondered if he was holding back waiting until the end to make a run. \u00a0On this day, Logano was the fastest, keeping Harvick at bay and grabbing his first win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

“I think everyone saw how fast he [Harvick] was last week and it probably made a lot of people nervous, but our team kept their heads up and stayed confident,” said the 12-time Sprint Cup winner. \u00a0“We know we can beat them. \u00a0We know we have what we need over here, and our team is as tight-knit as they get.<\/p>\n

“I couldn\u2019t be more proud of my team. \u00a0We had a lot of great money stops today to keep us out front. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t be more proud of what they\u2019re doing right now.”<\/p>\n

\"NASCAR<\/a><\/p>\n

Driving hard all day, Harvick wasn\u2019t pleased with his runner-up finish, especially after his strong Dover run last weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could hang with him for a while, but lose him in traffic,\u201d said a disappointed Harvick.\u00a0 \u201cIt was just extremely hard to pass.\u00a0 All in all, we weren\u2019t very good all weekend.\u00a0 The guys did a great job on pit road, made our car better throughout the day.\u00a0 We\u2019re really proud of that and if today is one of the \u2018off\u2019 days, then we\u2019ll be just fine.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to go to Kansas and keep our heads down and grind away.”<\/p>\n

In the series of events over 500 miles, it didn\u2019t take long for the some of the major names in the Sprint Cup Chase to suffer consequences at Charlotte.\u00a0 Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all had trouble, with Earnhardt, Jr. first being bumped in the rear by Carl Edwards, sending him into the turn one wall on lap 70 and after more scrapes, Earnhardt, Jr. would wind up in 28th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Pole-sitter, Matt Kenseth, while leading at the time, had a dismal pit stop on lap 77.\u00a0 First time, his jackman slipped, losing precious seconds and putting him back in the pack in 13th<\/sup>. \u00a0He drove hard and had climbed back into the top five until his pit stop on lap 169.\u00a0 His charge to hustle his car to his pits caused him to slide, crossing his pit box line.\u00a0 Having to take more time backing up, he soon found his No. 20 Toyota team once again in the back, only this time in 20th.\u00a0 Fighting for position, he later tangled with Ryan Newman on lap 177 off turn four, taking him out of the fight.\u00a0 He returned to the fray after those repairs only to have a suspension part break, sending him in the turn three wall and out for the day, finishing 42nd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"NASCAR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt just snowballed on us,\u201d said a grimacing Kenseth.\u00a0 \u201cWe were fast out front and then I got tight running in the back.\u00a0 I missed my pit stall going around the 21 [Ryan Blaney] and then I had to back up and that put us back there again, but honestly with Ryan [Newman], I thought he had broken when he went high and I went to the middle.\u00a0 The next thing I know, I\u2019m pointed at the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lap 195 brought about another strange set of circumstances occurring under caution between frontrunners Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, who were running in second and third in the lineup behind Logano.\u00a0 When Busch faked his way to pit road attempting to bluff those behind him, he turned back to the track and found Larson in his path.<\/p>\n

Larson\u2019s Chip Ganassi team, deciding to make a last second stop, told their driver to hit pit road only to find Busch in his way with both cars colliding at the entrance to pits.\u00a0 This caused the No. 42 of Larson to spin, leaving Busch with front-end damage.\u00a0 Later, Busch would hit a patch of oil slamming his car into the wall, adding to his demise.\u00a0 Busch would finish 20th<\/sup> and Larson 21st<\/sup>, respectively, both a lap down.<\/p>\n