Joey Logano wins with fastest car at Atlanta — but not without clutch last-lap move

Joey Logano captured the win that has so long eluded him.

The driver of the No. 22 car and the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion earned his first win at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. He’s a driver who has won virtually everything — but Sunday’s win still represented something special, he said.

“It’s so special to win at Atlanta for me,” Logano told the Fox broadcast, right before making a deserved trip to Victory Lane. “So many memories of me and my dad racing right here on the quarter-mile. This is a full-circle (moment) for us. So many memories grittin’ over there in the (US) Legends car, and racing, and having a (good) time — and dreaming of going straight at the quarter-mile and going onto the big track.

“That was always the dream. And to finally win here means so much to me personally.”

Logano had the fastest car on Sunday. He started on the pole, earned a Stage 1 win and could’ve just as easily taken the second stage. But the win still required a pass on Brad Keselowski on the final lap on the high side — a battle between two of the best superspeedway drivers in the Cup Series.

“This thing, this was an animal,” Logano said of his No. 22 car. “It was very, very fast and was able to lead a ton of laps, and race really hard there at the end, get a good push from the 20 (Christopher Bell) to clear myself, and then enough of a push to get all the way to the end. So huge victory. Nice to get one early in the season.”

Keselowski finished second. Bell finished third. Corey LaJoie finished fourth.

The first two stages on Sunday resembled a famous Henry David Thoreau quote. It wasn’t “simplify, simplify, simplify,” though — it was “single file, single file, single file.” Team Penske dominated early. Logano won the first stage, and his teammate, Austin Cindric, won the second.

Fords were fast in qualifying and were fast Sunday early on — and for the longest time, those Ford cars went unchallenged.

But that all changed in Stage 3.

The biggest splash came on Lap 190, when Kevin Harvick was running out front when Ross Chastain never touched him but got close enough to somehow jar the No. 4 car loose — and that created a wreck that took out a bunch of the field. Harvick later called the incident “weird” and “unfortunate.”

Then came Lap 208, when Aric Almirola saw a tire blow out. That caused the No. 10 car to lose control and hit Kyle Larson, totaling Larson’s No. 5 car and ending Larson’s day. The 2020 Cup champion gave a Groundhog Day-style interview after emerging from the infield care center — using a word he has used a lot the last three weeks: “frustrated.”

And then came 50 clean laps. And then came the thrilling end.

And then came Logano making celebratory spins at the start-finish line, his father giving him a big bear hug — a dream of his coming true.

A few more observations

▪ Sunday’s race saw 20 lead changes and 13 different leaders. Logano led 140 laps. There were also only five cautions for 34 laps — a huge departure from the two caution-cluttered races fans saw on Saturday.

▪ Keselowski told reporters on Saturday that he has been encouraged all year by his team’s performance, even if those performances didn’t yield wins. Sunday produced another great run. The one-time Cup Series champion is still looking for his first elusive win since becoming a part-owner at RFK Racing.

Official results from NASCAR Cup Race: Logano wins

Post-race inspection has been complete, per NASCAR. No issues. The results below are official.

This story was originally published March 19, 2023 at 6:29 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription