Just eight races ago, Joey Logano languished in 20th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.<\/p>\n
Now he sits ninth in the standings and is a two-time race winner.<\/p>\n
The three-time Cup champion led the final 25 laps and 95 of the 400 on his way to the triumph on Saturday night at Richmond Raceway.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not locked into the postseason Chase just yet, but he\u2019s well on his way with two races left in the regular season.<\/p>\n
Here are my takeaways:<\/p>\n
1. Logano\u2019s Big Surge <\/p>\n
Joey Logano is one step closer to securing a spot in the postseason. <\/p>\n
Logano\u2019s two victories have come on short tracks at North Wilkesboro and Richmond, but he\u2019s also run well at Atlanta and Indianapolis in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
He has three top-three finishes in his last four races after having two third-place finishes in the first 20 races this year. It has been an incredible turnaround orchestrated by Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe.<\/p>\n
“This is important,” Logano said in his USA Sports interview after the race. “We need to get ourselves back in the top 10.”<\/p>\n
2. Big Buffers For Cindric, SVG <\/p>\n
Austin Cindric’s third-place finish gives him a buffer as the season heads down the final stretch. <\/p>\n
Austin Cindric finished third and Shane van Gisbergen finished 14th to give themselves some breathing room with just races at New Hampshire and Daytona to finish out the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their biggest challenger, Ryan Preece, got caught a couple of laps down when the caution came out during a pit cycle and settled for 17th.<\/p>\n
Cindric is now 63 points up on Preece and van Gisbergen has a 50-point cushion.<\/p>\n
“As far as the big picture goes for the season, it was a very important night for us to capitalize on a good car,” Cindric said in a Ford news release.<\/p>\n
Drivers who don\u2019t have to worry about their buffer anymore include Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell. They all clinched spots Saturday night in The Chase. Nine spots remain, and Preece has run well enough \u2014 but not consistently enough \u2014 to be in a good position.<\/p>\n
3. Briscoe Falls Short <\/p>\n
Chase Briscoe still fell short of the win after a furious rally. <\/p>\n
Briscoe finished 0.392 seconds behind Logano after mounting a furious rally. It just wasn\u2019t quite good enough for a driver looking for his second win of the season.<\/p>\n
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led a race-high 171 laps but one bad run seemed to cost him.<\/p>\n
“Just frustrating, to say the least, to have one slip away like that at the end,” Briscoe said in his USA Sports interview after the race.<\/p>\n
4. Larson Wins \u2026 Knoxville <\/p>\n
Kyle Larson’s double duty paid off. <\/p>\n
Kyle Larson jumped out of his car after a sixth-place finish to try to get to the rain-delayed Knoxville Nationals.<\/p>\n
The biggest sprint-car race of the season was a couple of hours away by plane in Iowa and was being delayed by rain. Larson had qualified for the main event earlier in the week knowing he likely couldn\u2019t make it unless weather helped his cause.<\/p>\n
Recently, when trying to run the double on Memorial Day by racing at Indianapolis and Charlotte, weather has not been on his side. It fell in his favor this weekend.<\/p>\n
Hendrick Motorsports arranaged his flight to Knoxville and Larson got there in time and won the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
4 \u00bd. What\u2019s Next<\/p>\n
The series heads to the flat 1.058-mile oval New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend for its lone stop there for the season.<\/p>\n
The track will play host to a Chase race next year, so even drivers who are already in The Chase will want to run well and have a good feeling about the track when they return in 2027.<\/p>\n
Ryan Blaney is the defending winner of the race.<\/p>\n
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