Chasing a title: Logano’s win at New Hampshire could be big

Associated Press

LOUDON, N.H.

Raised in Connecticut, Joey Logano always considered New Hampshire his home track, the one where he dreamed of being bathed in confetti in Victory Lane and flocked by family and friends.

For Logano, the track about 75 miles outside of Boston was his version of Daytona.

Winning at New Hampshire could mean a bit more to him than a boyhood fantasy fulfilled when the season ends — it could be Logano’s launching pad for his first NASCAR championship.

Logano helped Team Penske strengthen its grip as the organization to beat for the championship, pulling away on an overtime restart to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and advance to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Make it 2 for 2 for Team Penske in the Chase.

“We’re doing what we’ve got to do to win this thing right now,” Logano said.

Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski, who won the Chase opener at Chicagoland, have both advanced to the next round. Four drivers will be eliminated after every third race, and a win guarantees a driver an automatic berth into the next round. The first cutoff race is next week at Dover International Speedway.

Team Penske will be playing with house money at the Monster Mile. Roger Penske’s crew is rolling, winning four of the last five races dating to Bristol and snagging the early lead on the scorecard against Hendrick Motorsports.

“Confidence is high through the 22 team right now, all of Team Penske,” Logano said. “All of Team Penske. We feel like we’ve got some championships to win, not only on the Cup side, but Nationwide side. And you’ve got IndyCar. We’re just trying to catch up to them.”

Will Power won the IndyCar Series championship for Penske last month.

Logano raced to his fourth victory of the season, leading 73 laps and surviving a NASCAR season-high 15 cautions that wrecked results for several Chase drivers.

He took the lead from Kevin Harvick with 27 laps left and went on to his seventh career Cup victory.

Logano attended his first NASCAR race at New Hampshire when he was 5, made his first career Cup start here and won his first race in 2009. But that was a rain-shortened win that always gnawed at Logano. Until he became a regular winner, it was considered a bit of a fluke and the rain meant Logano was denied a traditional victory celebration.

This time, he took No. 22 Ford for the celebratory burnouts and a spin around the track holding the checkered flag.

Keselowski led 78 laps, hit the wall, and still was in the hunt for a win. The 2012 champion failed in his bid to win a third straight Cup race, though he salvaged a seventh-place finish.

“We certainly have a lot to be proud of, but there’s a lot of work to do,” Keselowski said.

Keselowski and Logano are 1-2 in the points standings. Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola are in the bottom four of the 16-driver field at and risk of getting cut next Sunday at Dover.

Rookie Kyle Larson was second at New Hampshire for his second top-three finish in two weeks. Chase drivers took seven of the first 10 spots at New Hampshire. Harvick was third, Jimmie Johnson fifth, Almirola sixth, Kyle Busch eighth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10th.