BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Joey Logano led flag-to-flag Saturday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Erik Jones started from the pole but was passed by Logano before he completed the first lap. Logano led all 300 laps in cruising to his second Xfinity Series victory of the season.
"I've never led every single lap in a race before," Logano said. "Gosh, this is fun. This is amazing. You're just waiting for something to go wrong."
In three starts in NASCAR's second-tier series, Logano has driven his Ford to two victories and a second-place finish for Team Penske.
Daniel Suarez, a rookie for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished a career-best second. He needed a big save of his Toyota about halfway through the race, eventually moved into second, but never had a challenge for Logano.
"I just can't believe it. I can't explain to you in words right now what I'm feeling, in Spanish or English," said Suarez, who was born and raised in Mexico and didn't speak any English when he first visited North Carolina three years ago to pursue a NASCAR career.
Chris Buescher was third in a Ford for Roush Fenway Racing and moved into a tie with Ty Dillon for the series points lead. He said he wasn't looking too far ahead at a potential championship race.
"We recognize that we're in a very, very good spot right now and we've worked very hard to get to that point, but it's early," Buescher said. "We're going to keep going at these races and trying to win. If we can keep that mind-set that we just need to go run as well as possible and try to win these races, even if it means taking some chances, I think it will pay off better for us in the long run."
Jones was fourth, followed by Dillon, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Brian Scott. Brendan Gaughan, Elliott Sadler and Brennan Poole rounded out the top 10.
Only 12 drivers finished on the lead lap.
Harvick appeared to be Logano's biggest competition, but he never could get around Logano for the lead. Then a speeding penalty on pit road during the fourth caution sent Harvick to the back of the longest line on the ensuing restart.
Regan Smith, a championship contender, finished 30th after losing power in his car.
The race had a red-flag period just over 10 minutes when J.J. Yeley spun into the wall and damaged a SAFER barrier that had to be replaced.
INDYCAR SERIES
Castroneves takes pole
LONG BEACH, Calif. — An IndyCar mandate forced Chevrolet to ditch its winglets for the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Winged or not, those Penske cars are still difficult to catch. Helio Castroneves set a track record and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished right behind him during qualifying Saturday, giving Team Penske the top two spots for today’s race.
“Every time I go to the race track, I feel like we not only have great speed and a great team — and that’s what it’s all about,” Castroneves said after his 42nd pole, fourth on the career list.
Castroneves, the 2001 champion at Long Beach, had a time of 1 minute, 0.66294 seconds around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. His lap during the Fast Six stage of knockout qualifying eclipsed the record of 1:00.882 set by Sebastien Bourdais at a Champ Car race in 2006.
Montoya also beat Bourdais’ mark, finishing in 1:00.66587 to give Team Penske the first two spots for Sunday’s 80-mile race through the streets of downtown Long Beach.
Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing qualified third, with Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, Penske’s Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden of CFH Racing rounding out the top six.
“Penske looks the strongest,” Newgarden said. “They’ve really got a really strong car underneath them, it looks like.”
Team Penske dominated at St. Petersburg with the new winglets on its cars, earning four of the top five spots and the checkered flag with Montoya. Team Penske also holds the top three spots in the series standings heading into the Long Beach race, with Montoya, Castroneves and Power.
IndyCar made Chevrolet and Honda change their aero kits to prevent excessive debris on the track after the season’s first two races were filled with cautions and a woman was struck in the head by flying debris in St. Petersburg.
Even with Power struggling during qualifying — he’ll start 18th — Team Penske earned three of the top five spots for today’s race.
“It did affect us,” Castroneves said. “We understand that the series decided to take those off and you’ve got to dance according to the music.”
Sports on 04/19/2015