Joey Logano holds back Kurt Busch to win at Talladega

Logano held off a furious charge from fellow Ford driver Kurt Busch and a fast-approaching Chase Elliott to win Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Logano’s most recent win came last spring at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. It’s the 19th win of his career and all-but locks him in the 2018 NASCAR playoffs.

“Yeahh, baby, we’re back! This feels so good!” Logano said over  his team radio has he crossed the finish line.

It's Team Penske's seventh victory at Talladega in the past 13 races.

Kevin Harvick finished fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-five.

Following pit stops during the break between Stages 2 and 3, William Byron elected remained on the track and took over the lead when the final stage went green on Lap 116. He was followed by Paul Menard and Harvick.

Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding on pit road during the stops and restarted the race from the rear of the field.

On Lap 125, Kurt Busch got some help on the high side and was able to by Byron to take the lead for the first time in the race.

Caution came out on Lap 129 for debris on the front straightaway, which bunched the field. Bowyer returned to the lead lap as the first car one lap down.

Stenhouse was the first car off pit road and took over the lead on the restart on Lap 134, followed by Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. Elliott was penalized for an outside tire violation during his pit stop and had to restart from the rear of the field.

With 52 laps to go, Hamlin got a run and returned to the top spot followed by Kahne and Ryan Blaney.

On Lap 139, Logano, with help from Keselowski, retook the lead as Hamlin dropped to third.

Two laps later, Keselowski moved to the top spot as Team Penske ran 1-2-3. Logano moved back out front on Lap 142.

On Lap 145, several teams began their final round of green-flag pit stops in the race, with most opting for fuel-only.

Both Hamlin and Stenhouse were penalized for being too fast on pit road and were required to make a pass-thru penalty. Hamlin got caught for speeding again while serving his penalty and was forced to make a stop-and-go penalty.

On Lap 147, Logano cycled back into the lead followed by Keselowski and Almirola.

On Lap 154, a caution was displayed when Timmy Hill appeared to have lost an engine in his No. 51 Ford. Despite reports of a vibration, Logano elected to remain on the track and retained the lead on the restart with 29 laps remaining.

Truex, among those who elected to pit under the caution, was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.

On Lap 165, Jimmie Johnson appeared to get loose between Turns 3 and 4 and came down the track and into his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron. The incident triggered an enormous wreck that also collected Keselowski, Blaney, Menard, A.J Allmendinger, Darrell Wallace Jr., Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Austin Dillon.

The race returned to green with 17 laps remaining.

With 10 laps left, Logano continued to lead the way and holding a small advantage over Harvick and Kurt Busch.

"What a fast Ford," Logano said in Victory Lane. "Teamwork is what did it today. And not just the Team Penske Fords but all of the Fords out there - Kevin (Harvick), Kurt (Busch). We worked really well together. We got a blue oval back in Victory Lane, so proud of that.

"I'm so proud to get this team back in Victory Lane - it's been a year! It feels so good to be back in Victory Lane. There is no feeling like this. It feels so good.

"It's been a long time coming. We've been getting consistent. We've been scoring points and we knew a win was just around the corner. I don't have to worry about the whole playoff thing anymore."

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	22	Joey Logano	Ford	188		70
2	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	188	0.127	5
3	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	188	0.247
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	188	0.296	12
5	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	188	0.318	4
6	38	David Ragan	Ford	188	0.394
7	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	188	0.399
8	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	188	0.490	26
9	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	188	0.501
10	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	188	0.723	1
11	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	188	0.850	1
12	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	188	0.881
13	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	188	0.883
14	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	188	9.955	11
15	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	188	10.038
16	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	188	10.273	5
17	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	188	10.887	1
18	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	188	10.909
19	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	188	11.704	6
20	96	D.J. Kennington	Toyota	188	11.868
21	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	188	30.790
22	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	188	35.928	1
23	92	Timothy Peters	Ford	187	1 lap
24	23	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	187	1 lap
25	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	186	2 laps
26	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	184	4 laps
27	00	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	178	10 laps
28	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	174	14 laps
29	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	165	23 laps	14
30	21	Paul Menard	Ford	165	23 laps	8
31	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	165	23 laps
32	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	165	23 laps
33	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	165	23 laps	21
34	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	165	23 laps	2
35	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	165	23 laps
36	51	Timmy Hill	Ford	151	37 laps
37	55	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	79	109 laps
38	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	71	117 laps
39	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	71	117 laps
40	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	71	117 laps