Joey Logano Holds Off Chase Briscoe at Richmond, Rockets Up the NASCAR Playoff Bubble
Logano led the decisive stretch and beat Briscoe to the line by less than half a second, a win that vaults him from 20th to 9th in the standings with two races left before the Chase field is set.
Joey Logano won the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night, holding off a hard-charging Chase Briscoe by 0.392 seconds for his second victory of the season and the 39th of his Cup Series career.
Logano took the point for good during a round of pit-stop exchanges with 25 laps remaining and led 95 of the race's 400 laps, even though Briscoe actually led the most laps in the field, 171, and spent the closing circuits trying everything he had to reel Logano back in. It's Logano's third career win at the three-quarter-mile Richmond oval, adding to victories there in 2014 and 2017, and his second win of the year following a July 19 triumph at North Wilkesboro.
A Playoff Bubble Turned on Its Head
The timing could hardly matter more. With just two regular-season races left before NASCAR sets its 16-driver Chase for the championship field, Logano has surged from 20th in points at the season's midpoint all the way to 9th. "Don't let the boys get hot," Logano said afterward. "We're pretty strong right now. It's awesome to see the speed in the 22 again."
Briscoe, meanwhile, all but locked up his own playoff berth with the runner-up finish, his sixth top-10 in the last seven races. That didn't make Saturday's near-miss sting any less. "This place has been a real struggle to me," he said. "To get close and not get it done is so frustrating."
"THIS IS A RACETRACK THAT I FEEL LIKE JOEY LOGANO COULD FINISH TOP FIVE IN MY RENTAL CAR." — AUSTIN CINDRIC
Team Penske swept the podium's top three spots, with Logano's teammate Austin Cindric finishing third, ahead of Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott to round out the top five.
For a driver who spent much of the summer on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, Richmond was a statement. Two races remain — at Daytona and the regular-season finale — before the postseason field locks, and Logano now heads into them with real momentum instead of a must-win scramble. Briscoe's crew, for their part, will regroup knowing the points cushion is already banked; for Logano, the job now is simply not to let the good feeling in the No. 22 car go away.