Logano prevails in crash-filled Chase race at Kansas

Kansas City, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Joey Logano clinched a spot in the third round of NASCAR's new Chase for the Sprint Cup championship by winning Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, a race that featured numerous accidents, mostly due to tire issues.

Logano, the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil-sponsored Ford for Team Penske, led a race-high 122 laps but had to hold off a hard-charging Kyle Larson, a rookie in the Sprint Cup Series this season, in the closing laps. He beat Larson to finish line by 0.48 seconds for his fifth win of the season, including his second in the Chase. He scored the victory in the Sept. 21 race at New Hampshire.

"What a Shell/Pennzoil team I've got, and what a Ford I've got here," Logano said. "It's been a lot of fun this season. Getting to the next (Chase) round is awesome...I'm having a blast this year, and we've got a real good shot of winning the championship. I feel like we're one of the teams to beat."

With the win, Logano grabbed the lead in the Chase point standings. He holds a six-point advantage over Kyle Busch, who recorded his best finish in a Sprint Cup race at Kansas with a third-place run. Kansas had been one of Busch's worst tracks in Cup competition. He won Saturday's 300-mile Nationwide Series event here.

"I wanted champagne and to do donuts right now, but I think they would frown on that if you're third," Busch said.

While Logano is now assured of advancing into the eight-driver field for the Eliminator Round in the Chase, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson, the six-time and defending Sprint Cup champion, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne, along with Brad Keselowski, who is Logano's teammate at Team Penske, are in jeopardy of not making it into the next playoff round.

Johnson finished 87 laps behind in 40th after he was involved in an accident with Greg Biffle on lap 85. Biffle bumped into Johnson, which spun him out and into the inside retaining wall.

On Friday, Johnson qualified 32nd, which matched his worst starting position in a race this season. He spun out during the first qualifying round.

"Our problem really started on Friday, not qualifying right there," Johnson said. "We were moving forward and in a good position. I felt like our times had us capable of a top-five finish. But just back there in that mess, and it ended up being a mess."

Earnhardt blew his right-front tire and made contact with the wall while leading the race on lap 121. He finished 63 laps off the pace in 39th place. Earnhardt had been in front for a total of 45 laps.

Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, and Kahne also crashed into the wall due to tire failure, with Keselowski finishing 36th and Kahne 22nd.

"We blew the right-front tire, and I am not sure why," Keselowski said. "We didn't have an aggressive setup or anything. We just blew the tire. It was just Russian roulette, and it was our turn."

Keselowski won the Chase-opener on Sept. 14 at Chicagoland.

Right now, Kahne, Keselowski, Earnhardt and Johnson are 9th-12th, respectively, in the Chase point standings. The remaining races in this second playoff round, the Contender Round, are Charlotte (Oct. 11) and Talladega (Oct. 19). The Eliminator Round begins with the Oct. 24 event at Martinsville.

Jeff Gordon, a Hendrick driver and four-time series champion, bounced back from a tire violation on pit road to finish 14th. Gordon is eighth in the rankings, eight points ahead of teammate Kahne.

"A lot of people had trouble today, so today was a real survival day," Gordon said. "We did that. It just felt like we could have finished a lot better than that. We had a really good race car."

Talladega, the only restrictor-plate track in the Chase, is considered the wild card race.

"This is nice to get this win and get us through to the next round and not have to worry about Talladega coming up," Logano said. "This was important."

Larson has yet to win in Sprint Cup but has finished second three times this season, including two of the last three races.

"I was hoping I would get a run on (Logano) in traffic, and all the lappers were giving us the top, so it kind of made it kind of easy for him to run the top," Larson said. "Another second and can't be too disappointed with it. The wins will be coming, so I just have to be patient. And with every time I am in the top-three, it's just going to make the wins feel that much better."

Martin Truex Jr., who is not in the Chase, finished fourth, and Carl Edwards, a championship contender, placed fifth.

The other drivers who are currently in the Chase and their finishing positions include: Ryan Newman (6th), Denny Hamlin (7th), Kevin Harvick (12th) and Matt Kenseth (13th).

Harvick started on the pole and led a total of 61 laps but fell out of contention to win the race in the late going when he pitted unexpectedly for what he had thought was a flat tire.

"I thought I had a flat tire and pitted because you see all the trouble that is going on," Harvick said. "So missed it on the handling a little bit today. We qualified well and had good track position. That saved us in the beginning of the race, and when I thought I had a flat, just got us behind."