Joey Logano wins Cup race at the Glen with last-lap pass

Joey Logano, who last week saw an almost certain win slip out of his hands at Pocono when he and several other drivers unsuccessfully tried to stretch their fuel, was on the other end on Sunday as he wheeled the #22 Team Penske Ford past the sputtering #4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick to win the Cheez-It 355 at the Watkins Glen road course. Kyle Busch in the #18 Joe Gibbs Toyota also passed Harvick to finish second. Logano completed his first-ever weekend sweep with the win in which he only led the final lap, as he also drove the #12 Ford Mustang to the win in Saturday's Xfinity Series race. Logano had never won on a road course before this weekend. Other leaders near the end, such as last week's winner, Matt Kenseth in the #20 JGR Toyota and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, also reported being short on fuel. Still, Dale Jr. tweeted afterwards that it hardly counted as fuel mileage, unlike Indianapolis and Pocono.

The race was bookended by a pair of long green flag runs, totaling 55 of 90 laps. Several drivers reported debris before lap 30, for which there were two cautions. Around this time, the #24 Chevrolet of Jeff Gordon lost all of its brake fluid, sending him to the garage for repairs. Jimmie Johnson (#48) and Justin Allgaier (#51) got together a few laps later after Johnson had a bad entry into the bus stop chicane, and Allgaier was subsequently seen chasing down Johnson. Ty Dillon wrecked in the backstretch on lap 47, and on lap 51 following the restart, the red flag was displayed for cleanup of fluid from the #5 Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne. Two other Chevrolets, the #47 of polesitter A.J. Allmendinger, whose car stalled on lap 50 just before the red flag, and the #14 of third-place starter Tony Stewart, in his first Watkins Glen appearance since 2012, with an engine failure on lap 58, encountered problems during this middle portion of the race. Gordon would finish 41st, Kahne 42nd and Stewart 43rd. Allmendinger limped his way to 24th.

The final restart took place on lap 61. Harvick, the leader of 29 laps, knew that he was short on fuel, but opted to save it while continuing to go for the win. In the meantime, Logano got by Kenseth to take second place. Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski (#2) had led 27 laps earlier but had fallen back a few positions since. Just after the white flag, the #32 Ford of road course ringer Boris Said spun coming into turn 1, causing Logano to fall further behind Harvick as he avoided Said's car. By turn 6, Logano was gaining on Harvick again when Harvick ran out of fuel, allowing Logano to get by Harvick and take the checkered flag first. Kyle Busch then barely beat Harvick at the line to push Harvick back to third. This was Logano's first Cup win since the Daytona 500 in February. Harvick and Logano are also currently the top two in points, making them drivers to watch next week at Michigan, in a race they have both won before.

Race Results:

1. (16) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 90 laps, led 1 lap
2. (8) 18-Kyle Busch - Toyota - 90 laps, led 3 laps
3. (4) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 90 laps, led 29 laps
4. (26) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 90 laps, led 2 laps
5. (14) 41-Kurt Busch - Chevrolet - 90 laps
6. (18) 15-Clint Bowyer - Toyota - 90 laps
7. (11) 2-Brad Keselowski - Ford - 90 laps, led 27 laps
8. (15) 19-Carl Edwards - Ford - 90 laps
9. (24) 9-Sam Hornish Jr. - Ford - 90 laps
10. (9) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 90 laps