Page 22 - ATD10August2015
P. 22
A22
SPORTSMonday 10 August 2015
Joey Logano wins at Watkins Glen, saves fuel this time
JOHN KEKIS Joey Logano celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at ful death lawsuit against
AP Sports Writer Watkins Glen International, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, in Watkins Glen. N.Y. Stewart, another hurdle in
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — what has been a season
Joey Logano kept his foot Associated Press without much hope un-
on the gas pedal a little bit til recently, and Sunday
longer than usual after tak- NASCAR weekend sweep this is particularly meaning- Whitt and just one behind marked the one-year an-
ing the checkered flag at at the track after winning ful for us.” Justin Allgaier. “I felt like I niversary of Ward’s death.
Watkins Glen International, the Xfinity race Saturday. Kyle Busch, who ran out was better than he was, Stewart, a five-time winner
a huge cloud of smoke He also gave Roger Penske of fuel on the last lap at but my crew chief (Adam at The Glen, was greeted
wafting toward victory his first Cup victory at The Pocono while leading, fin- Stevens) called in scared warmly by fans during
lane. Glen. ished second and moved on the fuel situation from driver introductions but
This time he had more than “It means an awful lot to to 30th in points, the cut- last week and I don’t finished last after his car
enough left in the tank of Team Penske,” team vice off to make the Chase for blame him. We didn’t want broke a rear gear midway
his No. 22 Ford. chairman Walt Czarnecki the Sprint Cup title as he to do the same thing.” through the 90-lap race.
“It makes up a lot for last said. “I believe this is our continued his remarkable Harvick coasted home In the last road race of his
week,” Logano said Sun- winningest track in the surge. third, Matt Kenseth was NASCAR career, Jeff Gor-
day after notching his first whole history of our com- “I had a chance. I could’ve fourth, and Kurt Busch fifth. don had brake problems
Sprint Cup victory on a pany going back to the raced the 22,” said Busch, Clint Bowyer, Brad Kesel- and finished 41st to take
road course and second Trans-Am and Can-Am, so six points ahead of Cole owski, Carl Edwards, Sam another big hit in points.
of the season. He also won Hornish Jr. and Jimmie The race turned on strat-
the season-opening Day- Johnson rounded out the egy. Martin Truex Jr., who
tona 500. top 10. started second, pitted af-
“It’s nice it played out this Tony Stewart, who quali- ter a red flag just past the
time. We may not have fied third, was competing midpoint of the race as the
had the fastest race car, at Watkins Glen for the first top drivers stayed out.
but the execution of the time after missing the previ- Harvick, who pitted two
day is what won us this ous two Cup races at the laps before Truex, then
race. What goes around track. He was nursing a gained the lead on a re-
comes around, I guess.” broken right leg two years start on Lap 61, passing
A week after running out ago and sat out last year’s Kenseth and pulling out to
of gas while leading at Po- race after the sprint car a lead of over a half-sec-
cono with three laps to go, he was driving in a race ond with Truex third.
Logano passed Kevin Har- at nearby Canandaigua Harvick’s crew told him he
vick on the final turn of the struck and killed 20-year- was two laps short on fuel
90-lap race as Harvick ran old driver Kevin Ward Jr. as the race wound down,
dry. the night before Stewart but he did enough con-
Logano completed the first was scheduled to race at serving to salvage a podi-
Watkins Glen. um finish.
On Friday, Stewart again “I thought I’d done a pret-
had to revisit that tragedy. ty good job of saving fuel
Attorneys representing the under the caution,” Har-
Ward family filed a wrong- vick said. “Really, I was just
running as fast as I needed
to. Once the 22 got there, I
had to pick up the pace.”
Truex’s chances disap-
peared when he suffered
a flat left front tire and was
forced to pit with 22 laps
left around the 2.45-mile
natural terrain course. He
finished 25th.
Busch had to pit from the
lead with just over 30 laps
left and dropped deep in
the field. He then steadily
mounted an aggressive
charge back and got past
Harvick for second after
the final turn.q
