June 16, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, Mich. — The roll continued for Joey Logano, who fought off a determined bid from James Buescher to win Saturday’s Alliance Truck Parts 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
After a restart with four laps left, Logano crossed the finish line .208 seconds ahead of runner-up Buescher to claim his fifth victory in 11 Nationwide starts this season and the 14th of his career. The win was the first for Toyota in the Nationwide Series at Michigan.
Kurt Busch came home third, followed by Cole Whitt and pole-sitter Austin Dillon.
Buescher chased Logano for three laps after the final restart and made his move in Turn 1 on the white-flag lap, powering to the inside of Logano’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry. But Buescher couldn’t make the pass stick, and Logano pulled away.
“Racing there with James at the end was a lot of fun,” Logano said. “I knew exactly what he was doing the whole time, laying back there and trying to make that run on the last lap. I knew he was going to slide it down into 1, and I felt like, as long as I had position on him, I could pin him down enough to get a big enough lead off the corner.
“He did exactly what I thought he was going to do, and I was able to work my game plan and come out ahead enough to win the race.”
For Logano, the victory was yet another case of capitalizing on a chance to win and extending his remarkable success rate.
“I’ve had a lot of confidence in myself lately, in my abilities, knowing what I can do with the race car,” Logano said. “I feel like I’m feeding my crew chiefs the best information, and they’re doing the best jobs they can do to make the best race cars for me.
“There hasn’t been an opportunity we’ve let slip up yet. We’ve been in position to win races, and we’ve capitalized every time we’ve been in that position.”
NASCAR red-flagged the race on Lap 119 after the cars of Josh Richards and Jamie Dick wrecked in Turn 3. Dick’s car caught fire, but both drivers escaped. So did Richards’ car, which rolled driverless down the banking and came to a stop in the infield grass.
After a stoppage of eight minutes, 46 seconds, the field took the green flag on Lap 122 of 125. Logano and Buescher quickly made it a two-driver race. The win comes six days after Logano picked up his second career Cup victory, at Pocono.
Danica Patrick finished 18th in an up-and-down race that saw her involved in three of the seven cautions. Series leader Elliott Sadler ran 11th, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr., second in the standings entering the race, had a miserable time with handling problems and came home 25th.
Dillon moved into second place, eight points behind Sadler. Stenhouse, the defending Nationwide champion, fell to third in points, 27 behind the series leader.
RACE RESULTS
1. (3) Joey Logano, Toyota, 125, $37,600.
2. (4) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 125, $36,368.
3. (15) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 125, $22,350.
4. (2) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 125, $26,868.
5. (1) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 125, $27,293.
6. (11) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 125, $21,093.
7. (13) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 125, $20,478.
8. (7) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 125, $16,045.
9. (17) Brian Scott, Toyota, 125, $20,118.
10. (9) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 125, $14,250.
11. (6) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 125, $19,968.
12. (18) Michael Annett, Ford, 125, $19,468.
13. (16) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 125, $21,818.
14. (8) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 125, $19,093.
15. (23) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 125, $19,943.
16. (14) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 125, $19,043.
17. (22) Jeff Green, Toyota, 125, $18,793.
18. (5) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 125, $18,993.
19. (19) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 124, $18,693.
20. (30) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 124, $19,318.
21. (28) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 124, $18,568.
22. (27) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 124, $18,518.
23. (36) Tony Raines, Ford, 124, $12,000.
24. (12) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 123, $18,418.
25. (20) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 123, $19,843.
26. (32) Timmy Hill, Ford, 123, $18,293.
27. (33) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 122, $18,243.
28. (37) Angela Cope, Chevrolet, 119, $18,168.
29. (21) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, Accident, 116, $18,118.
30. (24) Josh Richards, Ford, Accident, 116, $11,900.
31. (31) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Engine, 76, $18,013.
32. (35) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, Engine, 56, $11,485.
33. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 42, $11,450.
34. (10) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, Engine, 32, $11,430.
35. (42) Tim Schendel, Chevrolet, Overheating, 15, $11,415.
36. (34) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, Vibration, 12, $11,375.
37. (38) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, Engine, 11, $11,355.
38. (29) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Overheating, 9, $11,316.
39. (26) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Engine, 8, $11,190.
40. (41) Michael Guerity, Chevrolet, Vibration, 6, $11,160.
41. (40) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Vibration, 5, $11,135.
42. (25) Kevin Lepage, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $11,080.
43. (43) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, Vibration, 1, $11,030.
RACE STATISTICS
Average Speed of Race Winner: 132.979 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 52 Mins, 48 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.208 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Dillon 1-4; C. Whitt 5-13; A. Dillon 14-20; J. Logano 21-27; J. Clements 28; S. Hornish Jr. 29-49; P. Menard 50-57; J. Buescher 58-59; P. Menard 60-88; C. Whitt 89; D. Patrick 90; S. Hornish Jr. 91-94; J. Allgaier 95-98; E. Sadler 99-101; J. Logano 102-125.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): P. Menard 2 times for 37 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 31 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 2 times for 25 laps; A. Dillon 2 times for 11 laps; C. Whitt 2 times for 10 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 4 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 3 laps; J. Buescher 1 time for 2 laps; J. Clements 1 time for 1 lap; D. Patrick 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler – 488; A. Dillon – 480; R. Stenhouse Jr. – 461; S. Hornish Jr. – 443; C. Whitt – 407; J. Allgaier – 407; M. Annett – 396; M. Bliss – 333; J. Nemechek – 316; T. Malsam – 305.