Logano prevails in Bristol Nationwide race

Bristol, TN – Joey Logano claimed his sixth Nationwide Series win of the season by taking Friday night's Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Logano passed his fellow Sprint Cup Series competitor, Kevin Harvick, for the lead when Harvick got caught up in lap traffic with 35 laps remaining. A caution for an accident involving pole sitter Trevor Bayne, rookie Austin Dillon and Sprint Cup regular Kasey Kahne within the last 10 laps setup a two- lap dash to the finish.

While Logano pulled away from the field after the final restart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bumped Elliott Sadler out of the way in turn four and took second from him. Logano crossed the finish line 0.5 seconds ahead of Stenhouse for his first win in eight Nationwide starts at this 0.533-mile, high-banked oval.

"This is Bristol, and this is one of the top three or four racetracks to win at," Logano said.

Logano took the lead from Bayne on the opening lap and led the first 35 circuits before pitting during a caution. After rejoining the field in 28th, Logano questioned why his crew chief, Adam Stevens, wanted him to pit early.

After the next caution came on lap 45, Logano remained on the track while the other leaders came onto pit road. Logano ran among the frontrunners from there.

"Joey has a way of making me look smart," Stevens said. "He put on a clinic tonight. He did absolutely everything he needed to do and kept the car up there all night."

One year ago, Logano finished 0.019 seconds behind winner Kyle Busch in the Nationwide race at Bristol.

"We've been so close to winning here," Logano said. "It feels so good to get here in victory lane."

Busch finished third, while Dillon took the fourth spot. Sadler settled for fifth. After the 250-lap race concluded, Stenhouse and Sadler discussed their incident on pit road, but there was no altercation between the two.

"That was my fault," Stenhouse admitted. "We're racing for this championship, and you hate to get into him like that. I'm glad I didn't crash him."

Stenhouse, the defending Nationwide champion, trimmed Sadler's points lead from 22 to 19. Sadler won the spring race here in March.

"I'm glad he didn't wreck me," Sadler said. "He pushed me out of the way, but it could have been ugly. It's not the finish we deserved tonight. I really wanted to race the 18 (Logano) that last lap."

Cole Whitt, Ryan Blaney, Michael Annett, Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish Jr. completed the top-10. Patrick started 34th. She was also penalized for speeding on pit road late in the race.

Harvick led the most laps with 98, but shortly after Logano took the lead from him, Harvick ran out of fuel and coasted onto pit road during a caution. He ended up finishing 15th.