WATCH HERE: Last-gasp controversial bump decides NASCAR race
Last weekend at Dover Chase Elliott snapped his long winless streak. Joey Logano did the same today at Darlington, but this was a much more controversial finish.
Logano was closing in on race leader William Byron in the final handful of laps, when he got the rear bumper of the No. 24 Chevrolet with two laps remaining. The Team Penske driver went into the turn with much more speed and punted Byron out of the lead and into the wall.
He wasn't going to go quietly.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 8, 2022
Take a look at @joeylogano's move for the lead. pic.twitter.com/X4DBWr2Z8O
You be the judge pic.twitter.com/iIRyar92I1
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 9, 2022
The No. 22 Ford Mustang went on to take the white and checkered flag, as Logano snapped his 40-race winless streak.
It was the first win of the season for the veteran driver, and the 28th of his career. He has now won at least one race in 11 consecutive seasons.
"Super proud of the Shell-Pennzoil team, getting a victory here in Darlington. I’ve never won here in a Cup race before. So proud of this race team. Great execution all day long. I’ll tell you what, the coolest thing is getting this car into Victory Lane. This is the car where it all started for me back in 1995 in a quarter midget. Really, honestly, all the young kids racing out there right now, this could be you!"
Joey hinted that the contact with Byron may have been retaliation to something that happened earlier in the race. “You’re not gonna put me in the wall and not get anything back,” Logano said. “That’s how that works. I don’t know if he meant to get into me and fence me, but he did and at that point I felt like it was game-on. I was able to get back to him there the last few laps and just knew that was my shot to win and I had to take it."
Byron was about to collect his third victory of the year but Logano was closing in on him over the course of the final few laps. The Hendrick Motorsports driver may not have had enough to hold on for another lap, but he didn't even get a chance to battle for the win. The move certainly didn’t sit well with him, and Logano’s comments after winning only added fuel to the fire.
"He’s just an idiot,” Byron quipped. “He does this stuff all the time. I’ve seen it with other guys. He drove in there ten mph too fast. With these Next Gen cars, he slammed me so hard he knocked the whole right side off the car. He’s just a moron. He can’t win a race, so he does it that way. He didn’t even barely make the corner. I don’t know why he goes in so hard and knocks the [expletive] out of you. Makes no sense."
The incident cut the right-rear tire on Byron's car, as he limped to a 13th place finish. It was Tyler Reddick that rebounded from a miserable weekend at Dover to collect another runner-up finish today for Richard Childress Racing. Justin Haley also scored his best finish of the season, earning a 3rd place finish for Kaulig Racing. Kevin Harvick and Elliott rounded out the top five at Darlington.
Christopher Bell led the way for Joe Gibbs Racing today. His 6th place finish was the lone bright spot for the team as their other three cars all ran into issues during the race. Both Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr kept their positive momentum going with stellar performances inside the top ten. Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez completed the top ten on Sunday.
Aside from Bell, it was a rough afternoon for all of the Toyota drivers.
Kyle Busch led 19 laps today but was collected by Brad Keselowski while running 5th on Lap 167. "The 6 car blew a right-front tire off of Turn 2 and I had nowhere to go. It’s frustrating for having a good M&M’s Camry," Busch said. "It was nice to be running top five, lead some laps there, and it just felt like we’re trying to hone in on the setup and where we want it to be good and what all was going to pay dividends at the end of the day. But oh well."
Martin Truex Jr triggered a multi-car pileup on Lap 260 that took out several front-running cars. Truex made slight contact with Stenhouse, which sent him spinning sideways. The accident collected Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, and Elliott.
Kyle Larson's run of three consecutive runner-up finishes at Darlington came to an end today. After starting on the front row and leading 30 laps, an engine issue on his No. 5 Chevrolet ended his day early. The reigning Cup champion was running in 10th position at the time, but ultimately ended up in 36th. His teammate Alex Bowman also had an issue on the track and finished 29th.
Ross Chastain won Stage 2 of the race but his day was about to come to a crashing halt. Shortly after the restart on Lap 196, Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet spun to the inside of Hamlin’s car near the exit of Turn 2 and went head first into the inside wall. The Watermelon Man ended up finishing in 30th position. “We were fighting the balance all day,” Chastain said. “We were racing with those guys for the lead. I just thought I could run the bottom there off of Turn 2 at the exit of the patch. I just got loose on the transition and spun out.”
Up next for the Cup Series is a trip to Kansas Speedway, a track that always produces great racing. Coverage for Sunday's AdventHealth 400 begins at 3 PM ET on FS1.
