WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – This time, Joey Logano survived the rain.
Logano passed fellow Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski on a restart in the closing laps and held off his final challenge to win Saturday at Watkins Glen International in an NASCAR Xfinity Series race red-flagged for rain, which forced the drivers to briefly run on grooved rain tires.
“I thought that was going to be my best shot,” Logano said. “I wasn’t going to go all or nothing, but I was able to get all the way to their doors. It’s hard racing at the end. We were going for it.”
Logano, who started in pole position, took control with less than 10 laps to go in the 82-lap race. He went inside on the road course’s first turn, making it three-wide racing going through the 90-degree right-hander. The move forced Keselowski, who was leading, to go wide as Logano assumed the top spot, leaving his teammate behind.
It became a two-car race as Keselowski recovered and the two top-tier Cup Series regulars pulled away. With four laps to go, Keselowski was on Logano’s back bumper as they sped nose to tail. Keselowski lost his chance to challenge for the victory when he skidded out on the first turn with less than three laps to go.