Joey Lagano looks cool, clean, and ready to race

Logano had become the first NASCAR driver to take the pole position two years in a row at the 1.5 mile venue in Kentucky, earlier in the day. The Kentucky Speedway seems to suit Logano’s driving style and car and we’re sure he would love to race on this track every week. Logano managed to pull ahead of team mate Kyle Busch with only 10 laps left in the 300 mile competition and then stayed in front long enough to take the win. This gives him and his team mates two poles and two victories in two tries at the Kentucky Speedway, a perfect record that’s going to be hard to continue in the future.

The victory was a battle that saw Kyle Busch take the lead six different times during the competition and he was in front for the most laps of the race for the seventh consecutive race in a row. Kyle Busch lead for 162 laps of the 300 scheduled laps around the Kentucky Speedway but would in the end he couldn’t hold off a faster car. Kyle Busch didn’t have too much time to ponder his second place finish as he had to leave immediately after the race to compete in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race.

Speeding on pit road was a common theme in the Meijer 300 as NASCAR handed out 27 pit road speed penalties during the race, including one to Logano on lap 71 that had him restarting 15^th, but his car was strong and he worked his way up through the field to second place with just 93 laps left. The red flag came out with 15 laps remaining, which allowed Logano to close ground on Busch following the restart, and then slip past him moving into Turn 3 of lap 190.

Brad Keselowski held on to finish third, Brendan Gaughan was satisfied with his fourth place finish, and Justin Allgaier took fifth. Jason Leffler finished sixth, Michael Annett seventh, Burney Lamar eighth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came ninth, and the top ten was rounded out by Kelly Bires.

The next Nationwide race is the Milwaukee Mile on June 20 in the Northern Tool.com 250. Check information below on times to watch or listen to the race.

ESPN 2, 7:30 PM

Radio MRN, 8 PM

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Joey Logano Wins the Meijer 300

If you talked to most race fans last week, you probably didn’t pickup on a ton of excitement heading into this weekend’s action. The Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck Series were both heading to Michigan, and the Nationwide Series was set to take to Kentucky Speedway … two tracks that probably don’t rank up there on most fans’ list of favorites. Yet, somehow, someway, NASCAR is coming off of one of its most historic weekends in recent memory.

It all started with the Truck Series’ Cool City Customs 200 on Saturday afternoon. With a late race caution bunching the field up with just six laps left, Johnny Benson tried to rundown Erik Darnell for the win. It proved to be futile, as Darnell escaped with the win, but Benson was edged by just 0.005 seconds at the finish line – the closest winning margin in the history of the Craftsman Truck Series (or, at least since they began using electronic scoring in the 90’s). The win was the second in Darnell’s career.

The next big moment came at the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway, when the young Joey Logano – in only his third career Nationwide Series start – became the youngest winner in series history at just 18 years, 21 days old. The victory also gave Joe Gibbs Racing their tenth win of the season in the Nationwide Series (15th overall between the NNS & Cup Series), and many non-believers are now beginning to believe in the youngster’s talent and potential future in the sport. His nickname “Sliced Bread” is becoming to appear more and more appropriate.

NASCAR then topped off their big weekend as Dale Earnhardt Jr. used fuel strategy to overcome a largely anticipated Roush-Fenway Racing victory in the Lifelock 400 at Michigan. Roush had won 6 of the last 12 events held at MIS, and appeared to be in position for another with Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards looking very strong late in the race. In the end, though, it was Dale Jr. reaching Victory Lane for the first time in 76 races. Perhaps most impressive about the victory was the fact that it didn’t come at the track that people expected it to. Earlier in the season everyone had predicted Earnhardt to win at tracks that he’d enjoyed tremendous success at in the past such as Daytona, Talladega, Richmond, and Darlington. He’d come close on several occassions, but in the end, the victory finally came when Junior Nation had least expected it.

Throughout the season, there have been many races that I’d been very much looking forward to, only to find myself utterly disappointed after 400 or 500 miles. On the flip side of that, there have also been a few tracks that didn’t particularly excite me, but the end result turned out to be much better than expected. Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s a product of the Car of Tomorrow, or if it’s just one of those off deals, but it just goes to show you than anything can happen on any given Sunday.

DYN Imposes:
This week, Do You NASCAR also asks its readers …

1) How many NNS races will Joey Logano win in 2008?
2) How many Sprint Cup races will Dale Earnhardt Jr. win in 2008?
3) Which race was the most exciting of the weekend?
4) Which driver’s win means the most to his career?

Post from: EveryJoe

An Historic Weekend for NASCAR

Image details: Meijer 300 served by picapp.com

In only his third start in the Nationwide Series, 18-year old Joey Logano was nothing but masterful during Saturday’s Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway en route to picking up his first career victory in the series. Logano passed teammate, Kyle Busch, for the lead on lap 147 and stayed there for the ensuing 53 laps to become the youngest winner in Nationwide history at 18 years, 21 days (the former record was held by Casey Atwood at 18 years, 10 months, 9 days in 1999 at Milwuakee). The victory also gives Joe Gibbs Racing their leading 10th victory on the season.

Logano finished 2.259 seconds ahead of Scott Wimmer, who ran second in the race, with veteran, Mike Wallace, coming home third. Fourth place went to last week’s race winner, Brad Keselowski. Rounding out the top-five was rookie driver, Bryan Clauson. Sixth place was taken by second year Nationwide driver, Marcos Ambrose, and David Ragan, Mike Bliss, Clint Bowyer, and Jason Keller completed the top-ten finishers.

Kyle Busch had a great day turned sour. After flying into Kentucky Speedway late, he was forced to start the race dead last in 43rd. Forty laps later, however, Busch found himself with the lead and went onto lead a race high 85 laps on the day. After surrending the lead to Joey Logano on lap 147, Busch tried to fight back from the second spot, but he lost control of his car on lap 164. The spin sent Busch slamming into the outside retaining wall down the backstretch, and he went onto finish 30th.

Clint Bowyer retained control of the points lead, and now leads Brad Keselowski by 170 points. Keselowski jumped three spots in the standings to take over 2nd over David Reutimann and Carl Edwards, who finished 13th and 20th. Kyle Busch’s run dropped him from third to fifth in the standings.

For Logano, he has now led laps in each of his first three starts in the series. Those three starts have resulted in a win, 2 top-ten’s, and 2 pole awards. Between Logano’s driving abilities and the dominant team that Joe Gibbs has assembled for him over in that no. 20 car, the rest of the series could be in for a very long, agonizing season.

Click here for the complete results from the Meijer 300.

Nationwide Series Standings:

Post from: EveryJoe

Logano Masters Kentucky