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Joey Logano
Monday Racing Roundup: Logano Advances with Dominant Charlotte Win

Congratulations, Joey Logano. You just drew the first get-out-of jail-free card for Talladega.

With a dominating victory in Sunday’s rain-delayed Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Logano punched an early-bird ticket to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Now Logano can take a carefree trip to unpredictable Talladega two weeks hence. The same can’t be said for three of the sports superstars. Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch all had major issues at Charlotte and will have to rebound in the remaining two races of the Contender Round to keep their title hopes alive.

Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford led 227 of the 334 laps and crossed the finish line .703 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick, who posted his 11th runner-up finish of the season to go with three victories.

The win was Logano’s fourth of the season, his first at Charlotte and the 12th of his career. Most important, however, was the free pass into the Eliminator Round.

"Logano’s the only one who’s going to sleep for the next two weeks," said Martin Truex Jr., who finished third in the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet.

Logano echoed those same sentiments.

"This makes Talladega way easier," Logano said. "I know that’s on everyone’s mind when this round starts, and last year we won Kansas when it was the first race of this round and now we were able to get it this time at Charlotte. We’ll get lots of sleep here the next couple of weeks."

Logano notched his victory a week after Harvick triumphed at Dover to claw his way back into the Chase.

"I think everyone saw how fast he was last week and it probably made a lot of people nervous, but our team kept their heads up and stayed confident," Logano said. "We know we can beat them. We know we’ve got what we need over here, and our team is as tight-knit as they get. 

"I’m proud of them. I couldn’t be more proud of them. We had a lot of money stops today to keep us out front. The pit stops were great and I couldn’t be more proud of what they’re doing right now."

Denny Hamlin ran fourth, followed by Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards. Seventh-place finisher Austin Dillon was the only non-Chase driver in the top nine, with Jeff Gordon coming home eighth in his last ride at the 1.5-mile speedway and Brad Keselowski nursing his No. 2 Ford to the finish line in ninth, after feeling a vibration in the left rear of his car.

Kenseth, the polesitter, led 72 laps in the early going before a litany of issues ultimately knocked him out of the race in 42nd place and left him in dire jeopardy of elimination from the Chase. 

NASCAR XFINITY Series: Dillon completes sweep at Charlotte

Where Charlotte Motor Speedway is concerned, Austin Dillon doesn’t mind being a creature of habit.

After experienced veterans Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne knocked themselves out of contention on Lap 151 of Friday night’s XFINITY Series race at the 1.5-mile track, Dillon streaked away from Erik Jones to win by 2.809 seconds over the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

With the victory, Dillon completed a season sweep at Charlotte, both wins coming from the pole position. The triumph was Dillon’s third of the season in the XFINITY Series and the sixth of his career.

Dillon’s closest call came not on the track, but during the pre-race ceremony. A fireball from one of the skyrockets used to liven up the proceedings dropped out of the evening sky and singed Dillon’s firesuit.

"I was actually praying, and the fireworks hit me in the back," Dillon said. "I didn’t know if it was a sign from God or what. But it got me going right there with a firework in the butt."

Brad Keselowski ran third, followed by Daniel Suarez and Regan Smith. Chris Buescher came home seventh and extended his series lead to 26 points over defending champion Chase Elliott, who finished ninth.

Busch lost several positions after a Lap 147 restart, and he and Kahne raced aggressively for third place—with repeated side-by-side contact between the two cars, before Busch pulled ahead. But Kahne drove hard into Turn 3 on Lap 151, tapping Busch’s Toyota twice and sending it up into the outside wall.

Kahne’s Chevrolet also sustained damage in the incident, but he managed to finish 12th. Busch took his car to the garage on Lap 154 and retired from the race in 31st place.

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