LAS VEGAS - The adjustments to a major offseason overhaul at Team Penske continued Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where miscommunication between Joey Logano and his new crew chief led to a botched final pit stop.
Logano still wound up in victory lane for the second year in a row at this NASCAR Cup Series race, winning a two-lap sprint to the finish that ended under caution.
When the yellow flag waved with six laps remaining, it forced teams to make strategic decisions, and crew chief Paul Wolfe told Logano to come to pit road for new tires on the No. 22 Ford Mustang. Logano didn't hear Wolfe and remained on track, a move that cycled him into the lead but put him in position to hold off a slew of contenders on fresh tires.
Logano knew it was critical to get some separation from the pack quickly on the restart to have any shot at the win.
"Clean air was going to be key with old tires," he said. "If I got swallowed up by a couple cars, I was just going to fall backwards really quick."
Logano got a push from Daytona 500 pole winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - who drives the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro for JTG Daugherty Racing - on the restart with two laps remaining, and the 29-year-old Penske driver then threw a block on Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron to maintain his position out front that Logano called "the winning move."
Explained Logano: "I was able to get down in front of him and then be able to separate myself a little bit from the field."
AP photo by Chase Stevens / Joey Logano celebrates after winning Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.The starting grid for Sunday's race was set by 2019 points after qualifying was rained out Saturday.
Logano, the 2018 Cup Series champion, just missed being one of the four drivers eligible for the title in last season's finale. At the start of this year, team owner Roger Penske announced he had swapped the crews of Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski, with Logano getting Wolfe, the crew chief who led Keselowski to the 2012 Cup Series title.
They've worked together at the track the past three weeks, and Logano praised the new pairing.
"He's done such a great job, and it's been fun getting to know each other and the whole team," Logano said. "The pit crew was amazing today. I think we gained a spot every time at least. Proud of the effort that everyone has put in over the offseason."
Logano had taken the white flag when a crash occurred deep in traffic to bring out the caution, freeze the field and secure the victory, his 24th as a Cup Series driver. It broke a tie with Ricky Rudd for 35th on the all-time wins list.
Matt DiBenedetto was 0.491 second behind to tie his best finish as a Cup Series driver. Sunday's race was just his second for Wood Brothers, which has a technical alliance with Penske. DiBenedetto, 16th in last Monday's Daytona 500, finished in the top five three times last season for Leavine Family Racing, including second in the August night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
"This is all just too surreal," the 28-year-old California native said. "Tough to be that close, but, hey, this is only the second race of the season. So it was the strength of this team. It's so cool to have the backing of all the people that allow me to drive this thing."
Stenhouse, also in his first year for a new team, was third.
"So far, so good," Stenhouse said. "Two weeks, we've been fast this week, we weren't bad this week, and we know what we need to work on."
Austin Dillon was fourth in a Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, with seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson - set to retire after this season and trying to end his longest drought without winning a race - fifth for Hendrick. Bubba Wallace, Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 10.
Two-time reigning Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in 17th as the manufacturer and Joe Gibbs Racing struggled the entire 400 miles.
Hendrick's Chase Elliott appeared to be the driver to beat through the first two stages, winning both, but his shot at the overall victory ended due to a tire problem after a pit stop from the lead caused his Chevy to hit the wall. He had led five times for 70 laps before heading to pit road for repairs, and he finished 26th.
Ross Chastain drove the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing as the replacement driver for Ryan Newman, who sustained a head injury in a crash on the final lap of last Monday's season opener. It ended a streak of 649 consecutive Cup Series starts dating to 2002 for Newman, who has no timetable for a return, though his team said he does intend to get back in his car.
Chastain finished 29th, in part because of a late spin, but ran inside the top 10 earlier in the race. Roush Fenway Racing has not indicated who will drive the car next Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
The fill-in driver was bitterly disappointed as he headed to the Kaulig Racing No. 38 Chevrolet for the resumption of Saturday's Xfinity Series race, which was rained out after 50 laps and rescheduled for after the main event Sunday.
"I was just overdriving there at the end, for sure. It just got away from me there and got loose," Chastain said. "The car deserved a lot better finish. I just didn't have great restarts. I just have to be better."
He wound up 10th in the second-tier Xfinity Series race, which was won by Chase Briscoe, a Stewart-Haas Racing driver and rising star in Ford's developmental program who led 27 of the 50 laps completed Saturday. Penske's Austin Cindric was second and Ryan Sieg third, with Las Vegas native Noah Gragson - who won the Xfinity Series opener the week before at Daytona - fourth, giving Chevy the two spots ahead of fifth-place Harrison Burton, a rookie in a Toyota.
Blaney's thoughts
An emotional week for Ryan Blaney ended with an 11th-place finish at Las Vegas and the Penske driver moving toward closure after Newman's crash.
It was contact from Blaney - trying to push a fellow Ford driver to victory at Daytona - that triggered Newman's crash, and Blaney said Sunday morning before the race he struggled in the first few days over his role in the wreck.
"I talked to his dad on Tuesday and said when he's feeling better, I'd like to talk to Ryan," Blaney told The Associated Press. "Ryan called me Wednesday, and just talking to him, hearing him, really made things easier."
Blaney said he had never been involved in such a violent crash and the potential of Newman being hurt rattled him.
"You never want to see something like that," Blaney said, "especially coming off your own nose."