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Joey Logano is putting the NASCAR Cup Series field on notice this summer.
Logano won the Cook Out 400 on Aug. 15 at Richmond Raceway, holding off Chase Briscoe to claim victory for the second time in four races.
On the Chase bubble five weeks ago, Logano is up to ninth in the points standings.
The Chase bubble is well organized with two weeks left in the regular season. Shane van Gisbergen has a 50-point advantage over Ryan Preece for the final Chase spot in 16th heading into the next event in New Hampshire.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR Richmond race:
CUP POINTS AFTER RICHMOND: NASCAR points standings: Cup Series points update after Richmond race, Chase picture
Too often during the early months of the season, the blue ovals in contention on the leaderboard were limited to Penske's Ryan Blaney and the odd RFK Racing driver.
Not now.
Logano claimed his second win of the year and continued his torrid run up the points standings at Richmond. But he was joined by teammates Blaney and Austin Cindric inside the top 10 for most of the race as well as Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry.
Berry is on his own mini-run, with three straight top-10 runs after finishing eighth at the 0.75-mile oval.
And given the track record for the Penske drivers and the RFK Racing drivers at New Hampshire, expect it to continue.
While Logano was likely the happiest driver in Richmond at the checkered flag, his teammate was a very-close second.
Austin Cindric started in 23rd, well behind his Penske teammates. But he didn't stay there.
The No. 2 jumped into the top five by the end of the first stage, then remained in the mix for the rest of the 400-lap distance.
He finished third while also adding 14 stage points, a crucial get in the battle for the final Chase spot.
Cindric left Richmond with a 57-point advantage over the cutline, jumping ahead of Shane van Gisbergen into 15th in points.
The Penske driver has never recorded a top-10 finish at New Hampshire. But Cindric is a former winner at Daytona, the site of the regular-season finale.
Cindric isn't a Chase lock yet, but put him under the "should be in" category with two regular-season races to go.
Spire's short-track performance with the 750-horsepower package has trailed behind the team's performance on 1.5-mile ovals and larger.
That's been evident with Carson Hocevar, who finished 37th after a terminal issue with the engine in the second half of the race.
Hocevar has recorded back-to-back finishes outside the top 30 at a time where the bottom half of the top 10 of the standings have been so compact. The driver of the No. 77 dropped from eighth to 11th in the standings.
New Hampshire is another track with this short-track package. Hocevar needs a good run there with tracks like Darlington, Bristol, Gateway, Phoenix and Martinsville upcoming in the Chase.
The good news? Hocevar finished 10th at Darlington and Bristol earlier this year. The bad news? Tenth-place runs aren't going to make up much ground in the Chase standings down the stretch.
With two regular-season races remaining, the Chase bubble looks unlikely to change.
van Gisbergen sits in 16th, 50 points ahead of Preece. Only Bubba Wallace (+70 to the cutline), Cindric (+57) and SVG are within 100 points of 17th above the cutline.
Daytona can always provide some drama, but less so in the Chase era where wins don't lock drivers into the championship battle. (Daytona as a race on its own can provide enough drama as it is.)
But if SVG avoids trouble in New Hampshire, the Chase field could be largely set barring something major with a week to go.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Richmond winners, losers as Joey Logano, Austin Cindric lead Ford renaissance
Continue reading...
Logano won the Cook Out 400 on Aug. 15 at Richmond Raceway, holding off Chase Briscoe to claim victory for the second time in four races.
On the Chase bubble five weeks ago, Logano is up to ninth in the points standings.
The Chase bubble is well organized with two weeks left in the regular season. Shane van Gisbergen has a 50-point advantage over Ryan Preece for the final Chase spot in 16th heading into the next event in New Hampshire.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR Richmond race:
CUP POINTS AFTER RICHMOND: NASCAR points standings: Cup Series points update after Richmond race, Chase picture
NASCAR Richmond winners and losers
Winner: Ford Racing trending upward
Too often during the early months of the season, the blue ovals in contention on the leaderboard were limited to Penske's Ryan Blaney and the odd RFK Racing driver.
Not now.
Logano claimed his second win of the year and continued his torrid run up the points standings at Richmond. But he was joined by teammates Blaney and Austin Cindric inside the top 10 for most of the race as well as Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry.
Berry is on his own mini-run, with three straight top-10 runs after finishing eighth at the 0.75-mile oval.
And given the track record for the Penske drivers and the RFK Racing drivers at New Hampshire, expect it to continue.
While Logano was likely the happiest driver in Richmond at the checkered flag, his teammate was a very-close second.
Winner: Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric started in 23rd, well behind his Penske teammates. But he didn't stay there.
The No. 2 jumped into the top five by the end of the first stage, then remained in the mix for the rest of the 400-lap distance.
He finished third while also adding 14 stage points, a crucial get in the battle for the final Chase spot.
Cindric left Richmond with a 57-point advantage over the cutline, jumping ahead of Shane van Gisbergen into 15th in points.
The Penske driver has never recorded a top-10 finish at New Hampshire. But Cindric is a former winner at Daytona, the site of the regular-season finale.
Cindric isn't a Chase lock yet, but put him under the "should be in" category with two regular-season races to go.
Loser: Carson Hocevar
Spire's short-track performance with the 750-horsepower package has trailed behind the team's performance on 1.5-mile ovals and larger.
That's been evident with Carson Hocevar, who finished 37th after a terminal issue with the engine in the second half of the race.
Hocevar has recorded back-to-back finishes outside the top 30 at a time where the bottom half of the top 10 of the standings have been so compact. The driver of the No. 77 dropped from eighth to 11th in the standings.
New Hampshire is another track with this short-track package. Hocevar needs a good run there with tracks like Darlington, Bristol, Gateway, Phoenix and Martinsville upcoming in the Chase.
The good news? Hocevar finished 10th at Darlington and Bristol earlier this year. The bad news? Tenth-place runs aren't going to make up much ground in the Chase standings down the stretch.
Loser: Anyone yearning for Chase bubble drama later this month
With two regular-season races remaining, the Chase bubble looks unlikely to change.
van Gisbergen sits in 16th, 50 points ahead of Preece. Only Bubba Wallace (+70 to the cutline), Cindric (+57) and SVG are within 100 points of 17th above the cutline.
Daytona can always provide some drama, but less so in the Chase era where wins don't lock drivers into the championship battle. (Daytona as a race on its own can provide enough drama as it is.)
But if SVG avoids trouble in New Hampshire, the Chase field could be largely set barring something major with a week to go.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Richmond winners, losers as Joey Logano, Austin Cindric lead Ford renaissance
Continue reading...
