NSCS: Joey Logano Captures Third Victory of the Season at Bristol

Joey Logano captured his third victory of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Saturday at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Logano led 176 of the 500 laps completed in the IRWIN Tools Night Race at the 0.533-mile oval after starting the night in fifth. The native from Connecticut captured his 11th career Sprint Cup Series victory by 0.220 seconds over Kevin Harvick.

Harvick nearly ran down Logano in the closing laps of the race but could not get around the strong Shell/Penzoil Ford. The California native had a wild night behind the wheel of his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet after being hit with a couple of penalties on pit road. Harvick eventually bounced back to turn a seventh-place start into a runner-up finish. Harvick will go into the Sprint Cup Series off-weekend with his 17th top five finish of the year.

Denny Hamlin will leave the Bristol Motor Speedway with a third-place finish in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin, who started the IRWIN Tools Night Race on the pole, led three different times for a total of 54 laps. The Virginia native will walk away with his eighth top five and 11th top 10 finish this season.

Clint Bowyer came into the weekend with added pressure to perform after news surfaced that Michael Waltrip Racing will scale back in 2016. Bowyer started the night in ninth and stayed within the top 10 for most of the night. The Kansas native had a score on lap 370 after being involved in a caution with teammate David Ragan. Bowyer kept on track to bring home a fifth-place finish. It will give Bowyer his second top five finish of the year.

Kyle Busch also had an eventful night behind the wheel of his No. 18 Skittles Toyota. Busch, like Harvick, got hit with a couple of pit road penalties over the course of the 500-lap race. The Las Vegas native started beside his teammate Denny Hamlin in the runner-up spot.

Jeff Gordon had a rough evening behind the wheel of his No. 24 Chevrolet after finishing in 20th. Gordon reported a vibration that forced the team to make an unscheduled pit stop with 92 laps remaining. The Indiana native was running inside the top five at the time of the vibration.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take a week off of racing. They will return to action on September 6th at the Darlington Raceway. Fans can watch the marquee event on NBC at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network will carry the live radio coverage.

Brett Winningham
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