Joey Logano’s late pit strategy pays off, wins at Richmond

Apr 30, 2017; Richmond, VA, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano (22) wins the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo/Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)

Joey Logano, earned his first win of the season at Richmond International Speedway after a late pit road strategy decision paid off for the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford.

Stage One:

Matt Kenseth led the field to green in his No. 20 Circle-K Toyota, alongside of Ryan Blaney in his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford.

Just five laps into the race, the first caution of the day was waived after No. 77 Erik Jones lost a left-front tire and got into the wall after making contact with No. 5 Kasey Kahne on the very first lap. The wreck ended the rookie’s day.

With 35 laps remaining in the first stage, No. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with the wall in turn three, bringing out the second caution of the race.

For the first time since the Daytona 500 in February, Joe Gibbs Racing earned a stage win after Kenseth led all 100 laps of the first stage. No. 42 Kyle Larson, No. 78 Martin Truex Jr., No. 4 Kevin Harvick and No. 11 Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

Stage One Winner: Matt Kenseth

Stage Two:

Kenseth once again led the field to green on the stage-two restart and held it until Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford passed him on lap 165.

After passing Kenseth, Keselowksi went on to lead the remaining 35 laps in the second stage and earned himself his first stage win of his 2017 campaign and the second stage win of the year for Team Penske.

Stage Two Winner: Brad Keselowski

Stage Three:

Denny Hamlin won the race off pit road under the stage-two caution and the leader, Keselowski lost two spots, putting him in third place after leaving pit road.

No. 48 Jimmie Johnson suffered a penalty under the caution for an uncontrolled tire, sending him to the rear of the field.

Hamlin controlled the lead on the restart but would surrender it to No. 4 Kevin Harvick 27 laps into the final stage. Keselowski took advantage of Harvick making the pass, and he too got around Hamlin.

After leading just nine laps, Harvick gave up the lead to Keselowski with 160 laps remaining in the race.

The fifth caution of the race waived for debris with 150 laps remaining, No. 41 Kurt Busch got the free-pass.

Once again, Hamlin won the race off pit road after having the best stop of the day (11.1 seconds) but surrendered the lead to Keselowski with 114 laps remaining.

On lap 321, No. 14 Clint Bowyer, No. 43 Aric Almirola and No. 10 Danica Patrick were all penalized for commitment line violations on pit road.

With 67 laps remaining in the race, No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with the outside wall after teammate Jimmie Johnson gave him no room, bringing out the sixth caution of the race. Following the wreck, Johnson said “I had no idea that anyone was out there, I’m sorry about that.”

On the restart, Keselowski jumped out to a comfortable lead when Harvick spun the tires on his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford.

On lap 357, Earnhardt Jr. once again hit the wall after he lost a left-rear tire. The wreck ended his day.

The eighth caution came out with 33 laps remaining when Matt Kenseth cut a tire after making contact with No. 24 Chase Elliott.

During the caution, both Penske cars stayed on the track and elected not to pit. Keselowski led teammate Joey Logano to the green flag but Logano was able to gain the lead until the next caution, with 23 laps remaining when No. 21 Ryan Blaney got into the wall.

Kyle Larson stayed out under green but stood no chance for Logano’s fresh tires. Logano passed Larson and pulled away from the field, earning his first win of the young season.

Finals Results: