Joey Logano edges Kevin Harvick in overtime to score Phoenix win

AVONDALE, Ariz. – An uncontrolled tire sent Joey Logano to the rear of the field. A broken jack cost him time on pit road. And an overtime restart put the field on his back bumper.

Through it all, Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang still wound up in victory lane Sunday for the second time this season. Logano held off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch to become the first repeat winner of the NASCAR Cup Series season while grabbing his second win at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

"We had a really good car, but boy, we had more things to wrong today," Logano said. "Just had some good restarts, getting ourselves back up there, being aggressive and having some tires threre toward the end. That was a pretty intense last 30 minutes of the race; just a lot going on."

There were two cautions inside the final 10 laps. The first for Ross Chastain spinning at the start/finish line with nine laps to go. Logano held serve on the restart with four laps to go, but the field made it a lap before the caution was displayed again for a spin by rookie John Hunter Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who collided and got hooked together at the start/finish line.

Logano took the inside lane for the overtime attempt. He cleared Harvick going into turns one and two and then kept him at bay for the final lap.

Kyle Busch finished third with Kyle Larson fourth. Clint Bowyer completed the top five.

"I couldn't be more proud of this team, two wins already in the books," Logano said. "We got to keep this thing rocking."

It was just after the lap 130 mark when Logano was penalized for an uncontrolled tire. Under caution because of an Austin Dillon crash, the No. 22 team was unable to keep the right front tire from bouncing back to the outer part of the pit box.

Logano restarted 28th but finished seventh in the second stage. The jack broke as the team was attempting to lift the left side of the car on its final pit stop with 45 laps to go.

Once Logano got his track position back when he stayed out under caution with 30 laps to go, he charged to the lead with 20 laps to go. He took the top spot from teammate Brad Keselowski and never relinquished it.

“He just had control of the race,” said Harvick. “After we pitted there, I got stuck behind a couple of cars there, lost five or six spots. He got by and got control of the race; he got to restart where he wanted to.

“Our Jimmy John’s Ford was better, especially when we could put it in front of his. We just didn’t get the control of the race back there, and he was able to get by us on that restart where I got hung up.”

The Phoenix race was the first under NASCAR’s new rules package for short tracks, which included a significantly smaller rear spoiler. The hope was the changes would make for more passing and excitement during the race.

For the most part, the tweaks seemed to have their desired effect. There were 20 lead changes and plenty of passing and contact back in the pack. Phoenix also is the site of the Cup Series championship in November.

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Pole-sitter Chase Elliott finished seventh. Elliott was left trying to rebound after he had to pit — from the lead — for a loose right front wheel with 34 laps to go in the second stage. He received the free pass to get back on the lead lap at the end of the stage.

Harvick took over the NASCAR Cup Series points lead by one point over Logano. Entering the day it was Ryan Blaney atop the standings.

BAD LUCK FOR BLANEY

An early wreck involved three of the front-runners, including Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. Hamlin’s Toyota made contact with the left rear of Keselowski’s Ford as they were fighting for position following a restart. The collision left Blaney with nowhere to go and all three ended up with at least minor damage after sliding up into the wall. Keselowski and Hamlin were able to stay in the race but Blaney’s car was too heavily damaged to continue.

Keselowski was able to recover and eventually led 82 laps before settling for a 11th-place finish.

Hamlin won the Daytona 500 three weeks ago and also won at Phoenix in November, but finished 20th on Sunday. It was a bit of bad luck for Blaney, who was the Cup points leader coming into the race and agreed to an multiyear extension with Team Penske on Friday. He finished 37th.

“It stinks we get taken out early like that, but that’s just part of it,” Blaney said.

TRUEX STARTS FROM THE BACK

Martin Truex Jr. had to start from the back of the 38-car field because of an engine change before Sunday’s race. He initially qualified 12th. John Hunter Nemechek also had to drop to the back row because of a radiator change. He had qualified 26th.

Truex was able to recover quickly and was among the leaders – even leading 11 laps – until he hit the wall while in heavy traffic on a restart late in the race. He finished 32nd.

UP NEXT

The Cup series heads cross-country to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Keselowski has won two of the past three races in Atlanta, including last year.

Contributing: The Associated Press

FanShield 500 results

Sunday from the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway (starting position in parentheses):

1. (13) Joey Logano, Ford, 316 laps, 52 points.

2. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 316, 54.

3. (10) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 316, 46.

4. (4) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 316, 35.

5. (18) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 316, 35.

6. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 316, 31.

7. (1) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 316, 39.

8. (6) Aric Almirola, Ford, 316, 37.

9. (16) Cole Custer, Ford, 316, 29.

10. (17) William Byron, Chevrolet, 316, 27.

11. (14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 316, 36.

12. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 316, 25.

13. (9) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 316, 31.

14. (8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 316, 28.

15. (25) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 316, 22.

16. (22) Michael McDowell, Ford, 316, 21.

17. (23) Chris Buescher, Ford, 316, 20.

18. (20) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 316, 19.

19. (27) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 316, 18.

20. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 316, 17.

21. (31) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 316, 16.

22. (19) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 316, 15.

23. (24) Ross Chastain, Ford, 316, 0.

24. (15) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 316, 13.

25. (26) John H. Nemechek, Ford, 316, 12.

26. (33) JJ Yeley, Ford, 316, 0.

27. (28) Corey Lajoie, Ford, 316, 10.

28. (11) Erik Jones, Toyota, 313, 10.

29. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 313, 0.

30. (35) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 312, 7.

31. (32) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, electrical, 292, 6.

32. (12) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, accident, 282, 17.

33. (29) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, accident, 264, 13.

34. (34) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, accident, 208, 3.

35. (36) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, engine, 181, 2.

36. (30) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 129, 1.

37. (5) Ryan Blaney, Ford, accident, 65, 1.

38. (38) Timmy Hill, Toyota, engine, 51, 0.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 94.411 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 20 minutes, 50 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.276 seconds.

Caution Flags: 12 for 73 laps.

Lead Changes: 20 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C.Elliott 0-60; K.Harvick 61-91; C.Elliott 92-102; K.Harvick 103-132; C.Elliott 133-137; M.Truex 138-140; C.Elliott 141-155; B.Keselowski 156-193; C.Buescher 194; B.Keselowski 195-215; C.Elliott 216; M.Truex 217-224; J.Logano 225-250; K.Harvick 251-254; C.Elliott 255; K.Harvick 256-257; J.Logano 258-267; B.Keselowski 268-271; K.Larson 272-273; B.Keselowski 274-292; J.Logano 293-316

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Elliott, 6 times for 93 laps; B.Keselowski, 4 times for 82 laps; K.Harvick, 4 times for 67 laps; J.Logano, 3 times for 60 laps; M.Truex, 2 times for 11 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 2 laps; C.Buescher, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: J.Logano, 2; A.Bowman, 1; D.Hamlin, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 164; 2. J.Logano, 163; 3. C.Elliott, 144; 4. A.Bowman, 138; 5. J.Johnson, 131; 6. R.Blaney, 123; 7. A.Almirola, 121; 8. K.Larson, 121; 9. M.DiBenedetto, 118; 10. B.Keselowski, 118; 11. D.Hamlin, 111; 12. Ky.Busch, 111; 13. C.Bowyer, 105; 14. C.Buescher, 102; 15. M.Truex, 96; 16. Ku.Busch, 90.