Joey Logano drive his car from “worst to first” to claim the win in the NASCAR Toyota Owners 400 race at Richmond International Raceway.
The #22 Ford Team had to change the transmission on the car after qualifying for the race was completed. That meant that Joey had to start the race Sunday afternoon (4/30) at the back of the field by NASCAR rule.
When the green flag waived to start to race pole sitter Matt Kenseth shot to the lead and looked as though he was going to be the car to beat as he not only won stage one of the race, but led the first 163 laps of the 400 lap race.
However, as the race wore on Matt was not able to get back to the front of the field more than one other time to lead for just one more lap.
There were eight total cars to lead the race and exchanged that lead 18 times during the race. There were many pit road penalties including speeding and commitment cone violations. The race also saw a total of nine caution periods before it was over.
It was during the final caution that a pit road penalty may have helped shape the outcome of the race. Joey decided last minute to pit hindering the vision of Kyle Busch as to where the commitment box for pitting was. Kyle’s two right tires were not completely below the box that is considered the “cone” causing him to have to re-start the race from the back of the field. In the run prior to the caution period, Kyle looked to have the car that could catch and pass Joey for the win.
While some drivers did not pit, Joey was able to get back to the lead of the race when it went green again and hold that lead for the final 17 laps of the race to capture his first win of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski finished in second place followed by Denny Hamlin in third. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. capped off a good day with a fourth place finish and Kevin Harvick completed the top five. See the complete race results for the NASCAR Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond here.
Kyle Larson continues to have a great season and remains at the top of the point standings for another week. Martin Truex Jr. earned enough points to move up one spot to second place with Chase Elliott slipping back a spot to third place. Joey Logano holds steady in fourth place with Brad Keselowski also holding pat in fifth place. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
NASCAR goes from “short trackin’” to super speedway racing next as they head to Talladega for the Geico 500 Sunday afternoon, May 7th.
By: Buck Stevens
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