Logano rocks after roll in winning Nationwide race

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buy this photo Ed Zurga Logano rocks after roll in winning Nationwide race

KANSAS CITY. Kan. — Joey Logano had absolutely no fear on Saturday. And he showed it. Less than a week after Logano rolled over seven times in a spectacular crash at Dover, he made a daring move with four laps to go and beat teammate Kyle Busch in the Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

"I had an emotional week," said Logano, who couldn't escape the questions and the video highlights of the crash in last Sunday's Sprint Cup race. "I needed a win to stop everyone from talking about me and asking if I'd be all right after that roll.

"I don't think 90 percent of these drivers think about that. If you barrel roll a race car like that and come out OK, it will give you confidence to drive even harder."

And that's exactly what Logano, 19, did on a crisp, sunny day in front of an estimated crowd of 81,000 at Kansas Speedway.

Though Busch dominated the race, leading 173 of the 200 laps, Logano kept him in his sights and made a bold move, diving to the outside and passing Busch.

"It was probably one of my coolest wins," said Logano, who won for the fourth time this season. "It wasn't expected. By the end of the race, when I was sitting third, I thought, 'I'll give it all I got and make sure I have enough.' I thought if I was in the lead, I'd be the fastest car out there, but I couldn't get around people."

Incredibly, in all four of Logano's Nationwide wins this season, he's come from behind to beat Busch to the checkered flag. Logano and Busch also ran 1-2 at Nashville, Kentucky and Chicago with the Kentucky race mirroring this one when Busch led 162 laps to Logano's 20.

"Our teammates beat us all day," said Logano's crew chief Dave Rogers . "They had a better race car, a faster race car. They were making small adjustments. We communicate throughout the race, and I knew they were better than us … we're not points racing, we're here to win, so we were throwing the kitchen sink at them."

Busch, who is running away with the Nationwide championship, padded his series lead to 245 points over Carl Edwards, who finished seventh, but was angry about his second-place finish.

"He out drove me," a visibly upset Busch said. "It is frustrating. We had a great race car today. We were good in the points. I've only done that about 12 times this year, so it ain't the first time, and it certainly ain't going to be the last time."

Busch, who has won seven Nationwide races this season and 10 last year, desperately wants to break the single-season mark of 10 wins he shares with Sam Ard (1983). Instead, he tied the single-season record for runner-up finishes with 10, tying Jack Ingram (1983).

"I'd love to break that win record, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen this year," Busch said. "I'm running out of races. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait another year maybe when I'm not racing for points, to go for broke instead of having to bide my time and keep my car underneath me and not race too hard at the end."

Logano, a Sprint Cup regular but part-time Nationwide driver, didn't have to worry about saving his car, and Rogers believes the concern about his teenage driver's safety would be put to rest.

"I wasn't worried," Rogers said. "My feelings were I was absolutely tired of hearing about Joey Logano rolling a race car. NASCAR has done a great job with all the safety improvements in the sport: the soft walls, the race cars, the seat belts, the seats, the HANS devices.

"Joey's tumble last week proved that, and I was frankly sick of hearing about it and wanted to see him win this race so we can talk about leading laps and winning races."

Mission accomplished.

Kansas Lottery 300 Results

1. (7) Joey Logano, Toyota, 200 laps, 128.4 rating, 190 points, $79,270.

2. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, 145, 180, $63,775.

3. (19) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 200, 119.9, 170, $56,118.

4. (14) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 111.8, 160, $39,850.

5. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200, 112.3, 160, $34,825.

6. (18) Justin Allgaier, Dodge, 200, 89.4, 150, $39,693.

7. (5) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200, 104, 146, $29,525.

8. (11) Scott Speed, Toyota, 200, 103, 142, $28,325.

9. (34) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 200, 92.4, 138, $27,535.

10. (13) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 200, 88.6, 134, $26,475.

11. (10) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 200, 82.3, 130, $31,643.

12. (15) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 200, 79.4, 127, $31,093.

13. (26) Jason Keller, Ford, 200, 71.5, 124, $30,943.

14. (8) Brian Scott, Toyota, 200, 94.8, 121, $30,033.

15. (27) Steve Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, 74.9, 118, $29,848.

16. (1) Parker Kligerman, Dodge, 200, 86.5, 120, $27,595.

17. (22) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, 67.3, 112, $31,578.

18. (12) Erik Darnell, Ford, 200, 75, 109, $28,818.

19. (6) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 200, 89.5, 106, $28,608.

20. (37) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, 57.5, 103, $29,248.

21. (36) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 200, 69.9, 100, $28,288.

22. (31) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 199, 47.8, 97, $28,178.

23. (40) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 197, 50.1, 94, $28,468.

24. (41) Kevin Conway, Dodge, 197, 48.8, 91, $27,958.

25. (42) Eric McClure, Ford, 196, 39.7, 88, $27,973.

26. (29) Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 195, 59.4, 85, $21,220.

27. (39) Matthew Carter, Ford, 194, 41.4, 82, $27,578.

28. (4) Brian Vickers, Toyota, accident, 191, 88.1, 84, $21,740.

29. (17) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, accident, 191, 72.2, 76, $27,308.

30. (9) Michael Annett, Toyota, accident, 181, 76.7, 73, $27,498.

31. (16) John Wes Townley, Ford, suspension, 100, 53.6, 70, $27,088.

32. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, oil pump, 96, 51, 67, $20,485.

33. (32) Peyton Sellers, Chevrolet, accident, 74, 51.2, 64, $20,375.

34. (35) Jarit Johnson, Chevrolet, handling, 44, 39.6, 61, $26,733.

35. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, ignition, 39, 45.7, 58, $26,623.

36. (43) Casey Atwood, Chevrolet, electrical, 24, 40.1, 55, $26,513.

37. (38) Patrick Sheltra, Dodge, accident, 18, 36.9, 52, $26,398.

38. (33) Mark Green, Chevrolet, rear end, 16, 41, 49, $19,870.

39. (21) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, electrical, 12, 38.9, 46, $26,183.

40. (28) Kevin Lepage, Dodge, overheating, 11, 34.5, 43, $19,605.

41. (30) Terry Cook, Chevrolet, handling, 6, 32.8, 40, $19,470.

42. (24) Johnny Chapman, Chevrolet, transmission, 4, 33.4, 37, $19,340.

43. (20) Danny O'Quinn Jr., Chevrolet, electrical, 3, 31, 34, $19,212.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 121.896 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 27 minutes, 40 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.574 seconds.

Caution Flags: 8 for 33 laps.

Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: P.Kligerman 1-7; K.Busch 8-54; B.Vickers 55; B.Keselowski 56; G.Biffle 57-60; K.Busch 61-76; B.Keselowski 77-82; K.Busch 83-139; B.Vickers 140-142; K.Busch 143; B.Vickers 144; K.Busch 145-196; J.Logano 197-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Busch, 5 times for 173 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 7 laps; P.Kligerman, 1 time for 7 laps; B.Vickers, 3 times for 5 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 4 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 4 laps.

Top 10 in Points: 1. K.Busch, 4,729; 2. C.Edwards, 4,484; 3. Bra.Keselowski, 4,422; 4. J.Leffler, 3,879; 5. J.Allgaier, 3,390; 6. S.Wallace, 3,377; 7. J.Keller, 3,249; 8. M.Bliss, 3,220; 9. B.Gaughan, 3,139; 10. M.McDowell, 3,024.

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race. The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

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