Joey Logano wins NASCAR at Phoenix. Full FanShield 500 results, plus what we learned

Sunday’s race in Phoenix ended with Joey Logano in Victory Lane for the second time this season. Logano maintained his late-lap lead through an overtime battle against Kevin Harvick, who finished in second place and led 66 laps. Kyle Busch finished closely in third.

“I’m out of breath,” Logano said after spinning his celebratory donuts. “That was a pretty intense last 30 minutes or hour of the race.”

Logano notched his second 2020 victory (25th in his career) in the fourth race of the season. He also won at Las Vegas two weeks ago.

“I knew racing Kevin was going to be hard,” Logano said. “I was figuring I was going to get hit, so I throttled up in the corner so much. I thought he was going to give me the bump‑n‑run.”

But Harvick was unable to touch Logano before the checkered flag.

For a full recap of how the final laps went down, check out The Observer’s NASCAR at Phoenix live updates.

“Two wins already in the books,” Logano continued. “We got to keep this thing rocking.”

NASCAR debuted its new short-track and downforce package at Sunday’s race in Phoenix to deliver an entertaining, even surprising event. Drivers who had dominated the top-five earlier this season, were nowhere to be found Sunday, while others emerged.

Previous Cup Series points leader Ryan Blaney, for example, crashed out of the race in the first stage due to a three-car wreck that involved Denny Hamlin and Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski. (Harvick now leads the series in points.)

Hamlin struggled around turn three in the 60th lap, tapping Keselowski and nearby Blaney into the wall. Blaney’s No. 12 Ford was unable to sustain the damage to its right front wheel and Blaney pulled out.

Keselowski, however, forged on for an 11th-place finish.

A BRIGHT SPOT FOR BRAD KESELOWSKI

Keselowski was one of the drivers who dominated the short track early. Despite the crash on Lap 65, Keselowski drove his way back to a first-place finish in Stage 2. He led 35 laps in that stage for his first stage win of the season and his first-ever stage win at Phoenix Raceway.

“A lot of fight,” Keselowski said about driving back to the lead. “I had a lot of fight.”

By the third stage, another Team Penske player emerged in Logano. Logano and Keselowski battled for the lead in the final 20 laps as both tried to stay ahead of those with fresher tires. Logano, however, was able to find an opening ahead of Keselowski, while Keselowski felt the effect of his older tires and fell back after multiple restarts.

MARTIN TRUEX JR. STRONG WHILE ON, BUT DOESN’T FINISH

Truex, like Keselowski, has had a slow start to the 2020 season, but he found speed in Arizona. Truex Jr. has not finished a race in the top 10 yet this season. But despite a late-lap crash that gave him a 32nd-place finish, Truex Jr. had a strong performance.

Truex started in last place due to an engine change in his No. 19 Toyota before Sunday’s race, but was able to drive to the front. He finished in seventh place in the first stage and third in Stage 2. Less than halfway through, Truex Jr. had moved into first place.

With 30 laps to go, Truex was tapped by Aric Almirola into Jimmie Johnson ahead of him, and spun out into the turn one wall. His race ended then, on Lap 284

“When you can’t finish a race, it sucks,” Truex said on pit road.

But if Truex is able to finish his next race in Phoenix, the Cup Series championship, it could likely be up front based on how he ran Sunday.

STANDOUT RUN FOR ROOKIE TYLER REDDICK

Reddick was another standout driver who crashed out of Sunday’s race. He topped last week’s impressive rookie performance, in which he moved up eight places for an 11th-place finish at Fontana. During the second stage, Tyler Reddick moved into the top five from a 29th-place start, passing previous race-leader Chase Elliott. With under 100 laps to go, Reddick was in second place.

With 46 laps to go, Reddick’s day ended when one of his tire failed and he hit the wall rounding turn two.

“We lost a tire,” Reddick told FOX. “I don’t really know what led to that.”

Despite a breakout performance, Reddick was hard on himself after the race.

“I just made a rookie mistake and fell to the back of the top 10,” Reddick said about an unprompted wide turn in the third stage that sent him toward the back.

Still, in just his sixth Cup Series start, Reddick made his mark with many more opportunities ahead of him.

NASCAR FanShield 500 at Phoenix results

This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 7:19 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription