Joey Logano has withstood a hounding Kevin Harvick to win the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
It was a repeat win for Logano who won the corresponding event at ‘The World’s Fastest Halfmile’ 12 months ago.
The champion and points leader pushed Logano for the final 63 of 500 laps to take his third win of the season and 11th of his career.
Harvick recovered from two pit lane penalties to finish second, a mere .220 seconds behind Logano. Polesitter Denny Hamlin ran third, and Clint Bowyer got a much-needed fourth place.
“There’s not much time to look in the rearview mirror, but I realised how different his line was than mine,” Logano said. “He’d drive in so hard and almost get to my back bumper, and then I’d drive off really good.
“It’s kind of interesting to watch a race like that, when two cars are a similar speed, but in two completely different ways. That’s what’s so fun about Bristol is you can drive the car about five or six different ways and make it fast, so it’s fun to race here.”
Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski came home fifth, followed by Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 192 laps but was hit with a pit road speeding penalty on his last stop under yellow on Lap 432.
Logano took over from there and racked up 176 laps out front in a race that saw 14 lead changes among five drivers. The runner-up finish was Harvick’s 10th of the season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished ninth, followed by Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray, who solidified their positions in the fight for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths on points. McMurray and Newman are 10th and 11th in the standings, respectively, the highest-scored drivers without a victory this season.
Given that there have been only 11 different winners in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year, at least three drivers are certain to qualify for the Chase on points.
VIDEO: Race recap
RESULTS: Irwin Tools Night Race – Bristol Motor Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS |
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 5 | 500 | 176 | Running | 47 | 4 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 7 | 500 | 0 | Running | 42 | 0 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 1 | 500 | 54 | Running | 42 | 1 |
| 4 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 10 | 500 | 0 | Running | 40 | 0 |
| 5 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 9 | 500 | 0 | Running | 39 | 0 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 6 | 500 | 4 | Running | 39 | 1 |
| 7 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 3 | 500 | 74 | Running | 38 | 1 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 2 | 500 | 192 | Running | 38 | 2 |
| 9 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 20 | 500 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
| 10 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 18 | 500 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 11 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 21 | 500 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 |
| 12 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 14 | 500 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 16 | 500 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
| 14 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 11 | 499 | 0 | Running | 30 | 0 |
| 15 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 22 | 498 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
| 16 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 19 | 498 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
| 17 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 31 | 497 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
| 18 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | 26 | 497 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
| 19 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 40 | 497 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 |
| 20 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 24 | 496 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
| 21 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 8 | 496 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 15 | 496 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 28 | 496 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 29 | 496 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
| 25 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 17 | 496 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
| 26 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 25 | 495 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
| 27 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 32 | 495 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
| 28 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 23 | 495 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
| 29 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | 33 | 495 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 30 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | 27 | 495 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
| 31 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 30 | 495 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 32 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 36 | 494 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 42 | 493 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 34 | 23 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 38 | 492 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | 32 | Josh Wise | Ford | 34 | 491 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
| 36 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 37 | 488 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 |
| 37 | 33 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | 43 | 486 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 39 | 480 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | 98 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 41 | 476 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | 4 | 443 | 0 | Accident | 4 | 0 |
| 41 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 12 | 356 | 0 | Accident | 3 | 0 |
| 42 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 13 | 110 | 0 | Engine | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 35 | 0 | 0 | Engine | 1 | 0 |
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