Joey Logano is catching fire at the right time.
The No. 22 driver held off Chase Briscoe to win the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway and pick up his second victory in the past four races.
Logano and Briscoe were the class of the field all night, combining to lead 266 of 400 laps, but it came down to the last 25 after the final round of pit stops.
Logano led Briscoe into the pits for tires and fuel and exited just ahead of him for the home stretch. Logano quickly grabbed a comfortable lead, but Briscoe closed the gap and made a few big moves, but couldn’t find a way by before they started working their way through lapped traffic, which helped Logano stay out front.
The win was Logano’s third at Richmond, where he often finishes well into the top 10.
“Don’t let the boys get hot. We’re pretty strong right now. Awesome to see the speed in the 22 again,” Logano said on the frontstretch after the win. “Gosh, it was a great car. We’ve had a great car here the last five races. We haven’t been able to capitalize on the win. Been so close.”
Logano’s recent run of good results has seen him vault from 20th to ninth in the standings over the past six races with two to go in the regular season. Briscoe’s result was good enough to hold on to fifth and clinch a spot in The Chase postseason. The seven drivers now locked in are Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Briscoe, Chase Elliot and Christopher Bell.
The Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend, which is another strong track for Logano and the Fords. Logano finished fourth last year behind his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry in the Wood Brothers Racing Mustang and William Byron in the Hendrick Motorsports Camaro.
