Logano Wins at Martinsville in Wild Finish

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Joey Logano won the First Data 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon to clinch a spot in the Championship Round of the Playoffs.

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Logano led a race-high 309 laps on his way to victory lane.  While he had a dominant car, he had to hold off Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. over the final 50 laps.

Truex and Logano raced side-by-side over the final 10 laps, and Truex took the lead coming off Turn 2 on the final lap.  Logano drove into the back of Truex going into the final corner, and two drivers made contact coming to the finish line.

Logano said he did what he had to do in trying to clinch a spot in the final round of the Playoffs.

“Just thinking about Miami,” Logano said.  “We’re here to win a championship this year.  We’re just going to focus hard on moving forward right now and building a great car for Miami.”

Truex raced Logano clean while the two battled for the lead, but Logano used the bumper in a last-ditch effort to get the victory. 

After exiting his car to a chorus of boos from the Martinsville audience, Logano said he knew he was only going to have one shot at the win.

“I knew I was going to lay the bumper,” Logano said.  “I knew that my one shot was going to be to lay the bumper to him a little bit.”

“You’ve just got to expect Martinsville at the end of the race…you’re going to have some bumping and grinding.”

Truex Jr. wasn’t as pleased with Logano’s move late in the race, and said he would make sure Logano didn’t win the championship.

“I was next to him for six laps and I never knocked him out of the way,” Truex said.  “We were going to race hard for it in my book.  I cleared him, fair and square…he just drove into the back of me and knocked me out of the way.”

“I’m just not going to let him win it; I’m going to win it…he may have won the battle, but he ain’t won the damn war.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Kyle Busch

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Kurt Busch

7. Chase Elliott

8. Ryan Newman

9. Daniel Suarez

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Aric Almirola

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Chris Buescher

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Ty Dillon

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Alex Bowman

18. David Ragan

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Ryan Blaney

21. Clint Bowyer

22. Paul Menard

23. Matt Kenseth

24. Cole Whitt

25. Michael McDowell

26. Erik Jones

27. DJ Kennington

28. Regan Smith

29. Ross Chastain

30. Austin Dillon

31. JJ Yeley

32. Landon Cassill

33. Jeb Burton

34. Darrell Wallace Jr.

35. Joey Gase

36. Matt DiBenedetto

37. Kyle Larson

38. Timmy Hill

39. William Byron

40. Hermie Sadler

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images