Joey Logano has staved off late-race pressure from Kurt Busch to win the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The #22 Team Penske Ford driver ended up winning by 0.127s, almost a year to the day since his last victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond.
Logano took the lead for the first time under Caution on Lap 75 before being passed by Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).
He was nevertheless in with a chance of winning the second stage of the motor race but couldn’t find a way past Paul Menard (#21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford), who scored his first Cup Series playoff point.
Logano had another spell in the lead from Lap 138 which was briefly interrupted by team-mate Brad Keselowski (#2 Team Penske Ford) before pitting under green flag on Lap 145.
The 27-year-old regained the lead on Lap 147 as the pit stops played out and held on to top spot all the way until the end of the 188th and final lap.
During that time, he had to survive two restarts and stern attention from Kurt Busch (#41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), while Kevin Harvick (#4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) also challenged for the lead in the latter stages.
Harvick ultimately finished fourth, behind Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet).
The rest of the top 10 was Ricky Stenhouse Jnr, David Ragan, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Ryan Newman, and Daniel Suarez.
There were two Cautions for crashes, the second of which on Lap 165 was the customary ‘big one’ when Jimmie Johnson got the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed up.
The former champ took several with him including Keselowski, who had won Stage 1, and Menard.
A multi-car crashed caused by a tangle between Erik Jones (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and Jamie McMurray (#1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) on Lap 72 accounted for 2017 series champion Martin Truex Jnr (#78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota), among others.
Series leader Kyle Busch (#18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) finished 13th after incurring a pit lane speeding penalty and also spinning in the big one.
Round 11, the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, takes place on May 4-6 (local time).
Johnson sets off ‘the big one’
Race highlights
Results: GEICO 500, Talladega Superspeedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 188 | 70 | Running |
| 2 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 188 | 5 | Running |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 188 | 12 | Running |
| 5 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | Ford | 188 | 4 | Running |
| 6 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 188 | 26 | Running |
| 9 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 10 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 188 | 1 | Running |
| 11 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Running |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 13 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 188 | 11 | Running |
| 15 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 16 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | Chevrolet | 188 | 5 | Running |
| 17 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Running |
| 18 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 19 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 188 | 6 | Running |
| 20 | 96 | DJ Kennington | Toyota | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 21 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Running |
| 23 | 92 | Timothy Peters | Ford | 187 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 187 | 0 | Running |
| 25 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 186 | 0 | Running |
| 26 | 78 | Martin Truex Jnr | Toyota | 184 | 0 | Crash |
| 27 | 00 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | 178 | 0 | Engine |
| 28 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 174 | 0 | Running |
| 29 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 165 | 14 | Crash |
| 30 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 165 | 8 | Crash |
| 31 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 165 | 0 | Crash |
| 32 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 165 | 0 | Crash |
| 33 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 165 | 21 | Crash |
| 34 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 165 | 2 | Crash |
| 35 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 165 | 0 | Crash |
| 36 | 51 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 151 | 0 | Engine |
| 37 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Suspension |
| 38 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 71 | 0 | Crash |
| 39 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 71 | 0 | Crash |
| 40 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 71 | 0 | Crash |
Standings
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Gap | Starts | Wins | Pl’off pts |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 447 | 10 | 3 | 17 | |
| 2 | Joey Logano | 417 | -30 | 10 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Kevin Harvick | 366 | -81 | 10 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | 335 | -112 | 10 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Kurt Busch | 320 | -127 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 317 | -130 | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 314 | -133 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Ryan Blaney | 313 | -134 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Martin Truex Jnr | 303 | -144 | 10 | 1 | 7 |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | 280 | -167 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | 278 | -169 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Bowman | 238 | -209 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Erik Jones | 234 | -213 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Jimmie Johnson | 230 | -217 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | 217 | -230 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | 214 | -233 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Austin Dillon | 210 | -237 | 10 | 1 | 5 |
| 18 | Chase Elliott | 209 | -238 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Paul Menard | 206 | -241 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | William Byron | 202 | -245 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Daniel Suarez | 188 | -259 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | 181 | -266 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Jamie McMurray | 167 | -280 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | AJ Allmendinger | 163 | -284 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | David Ragan | 157 | -290 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Chris Buescher | 156 | -291 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Ty Dillon | 134 | -313 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Matt DiBenedetto | 130 | -317 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Kasey Kahne | 129 | -318 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Trevor Bayne | 127 | -320 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Michael McDowell | 126 | -321 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Cole Whitt | 78 | -369 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Gray Gaulding | 69 | -378 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DJ Kennington | 55 | -392 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Landon Cassill | 37 | -410 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 28 | -419 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Brendan Gaughan | 24 | -423 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Harrison Rhodes | 23 | -424 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Reed Sorenson | 16 | -431 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Mark Thompson | 15 | -432 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Corey LaJoie | 14 | -433 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Danica Patrick | 2 | -445 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Justin Marks | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | David Gilliland | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -447 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Timothy Peters | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Cole Custer | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Joey Gase | 0 | -447 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Daniel Hemric | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -447 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Chad Finchum | 0 | -447 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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