At the start of the l200, pole winner Joey Logano leads the field through the esses on the opening lap. [Joe Jennings Photo]
By Joe Jennings
In victory lane, Joey and Brittany Logano all smiles while holding their five-month old son Hudson. [Joe Jennings Photo]
WATKINS GLEN, N. Y. – Joey Logano prevailed in the Zippo 200, a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, at Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon. Although this was the 24th running of the event on the legendary road course, it was the zaniest one yet with weather playing a major role.
While the sun shined brightly at the start, a storm cloud rolled in within 20 laps and once the rain started, NASCAR mandated the use of rain tires, which contributed to considerable slipping and sliding along with a variety of strategy moves.
Also, the race had to be stopped to fix a fence after Vinnie Miller dislodged the wall in Turn 1. The incident took place during the rainy period.
Before and after the adverse weather, teammates Brad Keselowski and Logano along with A. J. Allmendinger dominated major portions of the race.
Logano and Kyle Larson were the stage winners, each leading a 20-lap segment.
Overall, Logano led a race-high 31 of the 82 laps.
In the rain, Logano struggled to keep up but once the dry conditions returned, he returned to the front. As the race wound down, Keselowski caught up but spun out with two laps to go attempting to pass the leader.
A jubilant Joey Logano celebrates his third Zippo 200 victory. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Logano drove the Snap-On Ford and won this race for the third time in the last four attempts. And in series competition, he won for the 30th time.
“It was a fun battle and we were battling it out like crazy. I was working as hard as I could,” said Logano, who was out of breath after climbing from the winning Ford. “Brad and I both overdrove that corner. When I looked in my mirror and saw smoke, I thought, ‘I guess he overdrove that corner harder than I did.’ We were both pushing as hard as we could.”
Allmendinger passed Justin Allgaier on the last lap for second.
Fourth and fifth were Ryan Preece and Aric Almirola.
Sixth through 10th were Cole Custer, Brandon Jones, Ryan Reed, Christopher Bell and Keselowski.