Joey Logano steals the NASCAR Cup Series win in the old-school Bristol Motor Speedway Brawl at Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
BRISTOL, Tenn.—When Ty Gibbs finally ran out of magic, Joey Logano took full advantage.
Joey Logano steals the win
Thanks to a dramatic transition from the 494th to the 500th lap in traffic, Logano won Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and moved closer to the lead in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1.
While Logano celebrated on the front stretch, his Penske teammate Ryan Blaney traded blows with Carson Hotzvar on pit road. Minutes after finishing second to the Spire Motorsports driver, Blaney smashed the front bumper of the Racer on lap 458, leading to an aggressive post-race confrontation.
The win was Logano’s third at the 0.533-mile concrete track. in his third season and his 40th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin for 20th all-time.
As Hossavar and Gibbs raced side-by-side for the lead after the final restart, with Larson right behind Hossavar in the top lane, Logano rolled past the trio of cars from the bottom and took the lead up the track. As Gibbs faded to fifth, Larson moved into second.
After pulling up to the front in his No. 22 Ford, Logano was greeted by the same cheerleaders who waved yellow hand towels in honor of Busch (spread across the track) as Gibbs exited.
“I have a great team,” said Logano, who led 93 laps twice. “We have a team that knows how to win championships. I thought for a minute there, I said. “Okay, I can finish third or fourth here tonight,” but (we) kind of went ahead and I said, “Well, Merry Christmas. I got a gift there.”
“There’s nothing like a Bristol night race, man. It’s just the coolest experience as a race car driver, being in front of all your fans down here, hearing everyone screaming, cheering, sometimes yelling. Nothing. That’s pretty awesome.”
In possibly the fastest car ever, Gibbs had an exclusive race in a Toyota that featured M&M’s point scheme in honor of the late Kyle Busch. Gibbs led 120 laps and found himself in contention for the win until he succumbed to relentless pressure from Hotsavari (who finished third) and Logano, who moved from fourth on the final restart to win the race.
Apparently channeling some of Busch’s skill and success at a track where a driver nicknamed “Rudy” won eight Cup races, Gibbs survived three extensive crashes at the start/finish line shortly after passing Hocevar for the lead on lap 432.
Gibbs tried to split the semi between the cars of Alex Bowman and Cole Custer, but Bowman went up the track, sandwiching Gibbs’ Toyota between the two cars. Miraculously, despite the contact on both sides, which was enough to put Bowman out of the race, Gibbs was able to continue and maintain the speed he was showing before the crash.
“It was an honor to drive M&M’s Camry and it was something I will never forget,” said Gibbs. “It was such a fun race. Unfortunately, we lost it. I just tried to hang on a little bit longer in turns 1 and 2 (turns) that closed the 77 (Hocevar) and then the 5 (Larsson) got in there and we just missed a little bit.
“But tonight I had a lot of fun and it was a lot of fun. We’re just going to keep working hard and keep getting better.”
Blaney led a race-high 202 laps and regained track position after a commitment line penalty for an improper caution on lap 397 near the end of the green flag pit stop cycle.
Passing Hotsavar for second on lap 457, he made a run to block Hotsavar’s line. The driver didn’t lift and sent Blaine into the outside wall in the first turn. Blaney’s Ford suffered too much damage to continue and he retired from the race in 33rd place, dropping three positions to sixth in the Chase standings, 52 points off the lead.
Ryan Blaney vs. Carson Hotsavar
In pit lane after the race, Blaney aggressively approached Hotsawari, putting his hand on Hotsawari’s shoulder. The Spire driver fired back with two punches. After the second blow, Blaine lost his balance and fell backwards. He stood up and hit Hojevar in the face with his left hand before officials and crew members separated them.
“I just felt like he didn’t lift,” Blaney said of the wreck. “I left him plenty of room for a spin before then. I didn’t break him. I didn’t run him into a fence or anything like I easily could have. I protected the floor and he just decided he wanted to be there and didn’t step up and break me down.”
Hotsavar seemed completely unconcerned after the fight.
“There wasn’t a lot of conversation,” he said. “He just kind of said it and then went after me and I wasn’t going to take it.
“I mean, it was fun with 54 (Gibbs). I fought hard for the win. I mean, it was the second one, and he wants to come to the fight…
Three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano moved up four spots to third in the Chase standings, 16 points behind race runner-up Kyle Larson, who took a one-point lead over eighth-place Denny Hamlin Saturday night.
Christopher Bell finished an unconvincing fourth on Saturday to leave Thunder Valley in fourth, 17 points behind Larson, the only driver to score top-five finishes (fifth, first and second) in all three Chase races so far.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s cool,” Larson said. “That’s good. But there’s still plenty of racing to do. You just have to keep having good, consistent days. It’s three top-five finishes to open the Chase, and it looks like the points lead is just one point now.
“But we go to some good tracks for us, but also some good tracks for the Toyotas: Vegas and Kansas, Charlotte. It could easily change a lot here in the coming weeks. But we just have to be ready for anything and keep plugging away.
Josh Berry finished sixth, the only non-Chase driver in the top 11.
Next
Kansas Speedway is next on the Chase schedule with the Hollywood Casino 400 on September 27th. The race begins at 3 PM ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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