AP Photo/Jason Minto
Joey Logano held off Tyler Reddick to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Speedway in South Carolina on Sunday.
A wreck that collected Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. forced a caution with 33 laps remaining.
William Byron was running behind Logano before the yellow flag. Upon the restart, he almost immediately jumped into the lead with 24 laps left.
Down the final stretch, Logano was consistently running behind the No. 24 car but chipping away at the gap. Coming around Turn 3 heading into the last lap, Logano bumped the rear of Byron, which provided the opening he needed to retake the first position.
Byron didn’t hold his frustration back on the contact:
It was a fitting finish for an event that featured a throwback theme and capped off an eventful Mother’s Day.
Kyle Larson had one of the faster cars in qualifying and drove his way to the front row behind Logano, the pole-sitter. It simply wasn’t his day at Darlington, though.
The defending champion spun out early into the race while battling with Kyle Busch.
Having battled back to look like a threat again by the second stage, Larson began experiencing problems with the No. 5 car and was unable to continue.
It has been a feast or famine year for Larson so far.
Busch made his frustration known when he went from running in the top five to out of the race in a matter of moments.
Brad Keselowski slammed into the wall and left nowhere for Busch to go. The No. 18 car didn’t absorb a ton of contact, but it was enough to make the vehicle inoperable.
Busch proceeded to hop out of the car and walk toward the garage while it was parked on pit road. He explained the situation by saying he “couldn’t make the corner.”
Ross Chastain, the Stage 2 winner, had a similarly quick reversal of fortunes in the final stage. He was running second alongside Denny Hamlin when he spun out and hit the inside wall head-on.
All of the progress Chastain had made to that point was gone.
In general, there’s unlikely to be too many races in which Busch, Keselowski and Larson are all among the four worst finishers.
The AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway is the last stop on the NASCAR Cup Series before All-Star Weekend. It will be the first of two races at the track, the second of which is in September when the playoffs will be underway.
Since February 2019, Chase Elliott has averaged the best finish (5.2) at Kansas, per DriverAverages.com. The 2020 cup champion has been one of the top performers in 2022, and that trend could continue next week.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
