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Joey Logano is picture of perfection: Leads all 300 laps en route to Xfinity Series win at Bristol

Logano Bristol1 Xfinity 2015 Getty

Joey Logano was absolutely perfect in Saturday’s Drive To Stop Diabetes 300, leading all 300 laps en route to victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Logano took the lead away from pole-sitter Erik Jones shortly after the green flag dropped and never looked back, earning his 23rd career Xfinity Series victory.

“Such a dominating car,” Logano told Performance Racing Network after the race. “It was fun to drive it. The whole time, you were so nervous that something would happen. It’s such a fun thing to win at Bristol. It’s Bristol. Any time you win here, it’s neat.”

Logano appeared as if he was on coast, but he admitted he was concerned that fellow Sprint Cup regular Kevin Harvick might rally late. As it was, Harvick finished seventh.

“I thought Harvick was really fast and was probably faster than me when we were single-file,” Logano said. “I was hoping for lapped traffic, which is never the case when you’re the leader.”

Logano was so dominant early that by Lap 36, he had lapped half of the 40-car field before cautions bunched the pack back up.

Xfinity Series rookie Daniel Suarez, a native of Mexico, earned a career-best second-place finish, followed by Chris Buescher, Jones and Ty Dillon.

How Logano won: One word best describes Logano: Dominant. Like a police K9 chasing a crook, Logano sunk his teeth in and went for the jugular right from the green flag. He was able to hold off challenges at various points in the race from drivers such as runner-up Daniel Suarez, fellow Cup driver Kevin Harvick, pole-sitter Erik Joes and Chris Buescher, among others.

Who else had a good day: Without question, Daniel Suarez had the most emotional story of the day. Not only did the native of Mexico give Logano a run for his money in the final 30 laps or so, Suarez also likely made headlines back in his native land by finishing a career-best runner-up, his best showing in his rookie Xfinity Series season. Said Suarez, “We kept fighting. All day we had a good car and kept improving it on every stop. … It was a good day. I’m very happy.”

Who had a bad day: There was one significant incident of note. JJ Yeley suffered heavy damage when he smacked the Turn 2 wall after making contact with Landon Cassill. Ryan Sieg also tagged the wall in the same incident. Yeley hit the wall so hard that three laps later, the race was red-flagged so that track and NASCAR officials could examine and repair a part of the SAFER barrier, which had part of the splitter from Yeley’s car embedded in it.

Notables: Chris Buescher finished third, while Ty Dillon finished fifth. As a result, the two drivers are now tied atop the Xfinity Series points standings (Buescher came into the race two points behind Dillon) after seven races into the 33-race junior league season. Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace are tied for third at 22 points back in standings. Buescher said: “It was eventful. We had a lot of things going on today. I heard we’re in a good points situation now, so that’s pretty awesome.” Added Ty Dillon, “This is the boost we needed. We struggled last couple weeks. As soon as they dropped the green flag, we went to the top. I’m glad we’re back on track with our team and we’ll keep battling.”

Quote of the day: Pole-sitter Erik Jones was somewhat disappointed in his 40th place finish. “It’s alright. You can’t pass. It’s not any fun. We worked back up to the front, weren’t as good as the 22, kept working on it and thought we were a top-3 car.”

What’s next: Toyota Care 250 on Friday, April 24, at Richmond International Raceway.


Unofficial results of Drive for Diabetes 300:

1 Joey Logano … 300 laps

2 Daniel Suarez … 300 laps

3 Chris Buescher … 300 laps

4 Erik Jones … 300 laps

5 Ty Dillon … 300 laps

6 Chase Elliott … 300 laps

7 Kevin Harvick … 300 laps

8 Brian Scott … 300 laps

9 Brendan Gaughan … 300 laps

10 Elliott Sadler … 300 laps

11 Brennan Poole … 300 laps

12 Darrell Wallace Jr. … 300 laps

13 Jeremy Clements … 299 laps

14 John Wes Townley … 297 laps

15 Jeffrey Earhardt … 297 laps

16 Austin Dillon … 297 laps

17 Ryan Sieg … 296 laps

18 David Starr … 296 laps

19 Cale Conley … 296 laps

20 Mike Bliss … 295 laps

21 Ryan Reed … 294 laps

22 Blake Koch … 294 laps

23 Dakoda Armstrong … 294 laps

24 Todd Bodine … 293 laps

25 Joey Gase … 293 laps

26 Eric McClure … 291 laps

27 Ross Chastain … 273 laps

28 Landon Cassill … 268 laps

29 Harrison Rhodes … 260 laps

30 Regan Smith … 252 laps

31 Denny Hamlin … 229 laps

32 Peyton Sellers … 227 laps

33 JJ Yeley … 206 laps

34 Timmy Hill … 198 laps

35 Mike Harmon … 106 laps

36 Carlos Contreras … 60 laps

37 Derrike Cope … 55 laps

38 Morgan Shepherd … 41 laps

39 Jeff Green … 28 laps

40 Derek White … 11 laps

Time of Race: 1 hour, 50 minutes, 00 seconds

Average Speed: 87.218 mph

Margin of Victory: 1.172 seconds

Caution Flags: 8 for 48 laps

Lead changes: 1 among 1 driver

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