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USA

Logano narrowly beats Keselowski in Penske 1-2 at Las Vegas

Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano held off his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski for his first win of the 2019 season.

Race Winner Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Pennzoil

Race Winner Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Pennzoil

Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Pennzoil, Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire and Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Menards/Pennzoil Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Mustang
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Pennzoil
Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Chocolate Bar
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire

Keselowski got a big run coming through Turn 3 and briefly got side-by-side with Logano off Turn 4 before Logano was able to block his advance and hang on for the win in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400.

The win is Logano’s first of the season, 22nd of his career and first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"I told everyone from Pennzoil today - this race is bigger than the Daytona 500 for them - and I said we're going to do doughnuts on that giant infield logo after the race and we were able to do it," Logano said.

"What a great race. Brad and I were so evenly matched and you just can't drive away. In the last five or six laps, Brad was catching me so quick and I got stuck behind a lapped car. Man, it was so close. Lot of fun, my hearts still running hard.

"It's a nice feeling to get locked in the playoffs early."

Asked what he was thinking with his teammate closing fast in his mirror, Logano said: "Yeah I figured he'd run up against the wall there and he made up more ground than I thought he would. He made such a good run and I just barely cleared him there at the end.

"Team Penske going 1-2 shows the kind of speed we've got this season."

Kyle Busch finished third, pole-winner Kevin Harvick was fourth and Kurt Busch completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, Kurt Busch did not pit and inherited the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 168. He was followed by Logano, who was first off pit road, then Harvick and Hamlin.

With 80 laps remaining in the race, Harvick was finally able to get around Kurt Busch and reclaim the lead. Logano ran in third, Keselowski fourth and Almirola had made his way up to fifth.

On Lap 193, Logano also got around Kurt Busch and moved into the runner-up position.

With 60 laps left, Keselowski had made his way up to third, Kurt Busch fourth and Kyle Busch made his way to fifth.

As a handful of cars began green-flag stops, Logano got around Harvick to retake the lead on Lap 211. By Lap 215, most of the lead-lap cars were making their way down pit road for what could be their final stop of the race.

After his pit stop, Logano reported “a little vibration.” But by Lap 227 after everyone had made their pit stop, Logano cycled back into the lead.

Keselowski was in second, about a second back, followed by Harvick, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.

On Lap 240, Keselowski was to get around Logano and take and reclaim the lead.

Logano went to the inside of Keselowski off Turn 4 on Lap 244 and grabbed the lead right back.

With 20 laps remaining, Logano led the way followed by Keselowski and Harvick – all within a second of each other.

 

Logano was able to stretch his lead to over a second on Keselowski with 15 laps remaining. Harvick was right behind Keselowski, trying to take the second spot. Kyle Busch was running fourth.

With eight laps to go, Logano put Jimmie Johnson a lap down, leaving 18 cars on the lead lap.

Kyle Busch passed Harvick for third with three laps remaining.

Read Also:

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Laps Led
1 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 267   86
2 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 267 0.236 17
3 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 267 1.419 13
4 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 267 2.530 89
5 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 267 10.483 23
6 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 267 19.287 5
7 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 267 19.562  
8 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 267 19.748  
9 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 267 21.137  
10 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 267 21.951  
11 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 267 22.383  
12 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 267 23.380  
13 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 267 25.271  
14 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 267 27.236  
15 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 267 27.882  
16 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 267 28.192 21
17 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 267 28.602 12
18 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 267 28.759  
19 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 266 1 lap  
20 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 266 1 lap 2
21 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 266 1 lap  
22 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 266 1 lap  
23 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 265 2 laps  
24 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 265 2 laps  
25 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 265 2 laps  
26 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 265 2 laps  
27 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 264 3 laps  
28 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 264 3 laps  
29 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 264 3 laps  
30 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 263 4 laps  
31 96 United States Parker Kligerman  Toyota 263 4 laps  
32 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 260 7 laps  
33 15 United States Ross Chastain  Chevrolet 259 8 laps  
34 36 United States Matt Tifft  Ford 259 8 laps  
35 51 Cody Ware  Chevrolet 253 14 laps  
36 77 United States Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 252 15 laps  
37 52 United States B.J. McLeod  Chevrolet 220 47 laps  
38 66 United States Joey Gase  Toyota 10 256 laps  

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