KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Joey Logano could have backed off. He could have let Matt Kenseth drive away. He could have prevented all kinds of controversy by deciding that second place was good enough.
Instead, he decided to go for first.
Logano got under Kenseth entering Turn 1 with five laps remaining in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway, sending him spinning across the track. Logano ultimately drove away for his second straight win in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, while Kenseth was left in a win-or-else situation heading into next weekend’s race at Talladega.
“That’s good, hard racing,” said Logano, who was already assured of a spot in the next round of the Chase thanks to his win last week at Charlotte. “We were racing each other really hard. I felt like I got fenced twice. He raced me hard so I raced him back.”
Kenseth had every reason to race hard. He had a difficult run at Charlotte, leaving him in a dire situation in trying to make it to the final eight in the “eliminator” round of the playoffs.