Logano wins 3rd Nationwide Series race of the season, takes checkered flag at Chicagoland

Logano wins at Chicagoland

JOLIET, Ill. — Joey Logano’s only wrong move of the night came after the Nationwide Series race.

He walked past the press conference setup and down the wrong aisle until he was turned around and pointed the right way.

“I’ve never been here before,” Logano said, smiling.

That can be forgiven because Logano sure does know his way to Victory Lane.

Logano won the Nationwide race at Chicagoland Speedway for his third win of the season and continues to live up to his billing as one of NASCAR’s rising stars.

“We just drove the wheels off her at the end,” Logano said.

Logano passed Kyle Busch with 25 laps left Friday night, then held him off on old tires over the final 10 laps. The 19-year-old Logano, the youngest winner in Sprint Cup history, did not make a late pit stop to get fresh tires.

The gamble paid off for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

Busch, his JGR teammate, knew he couldn’t catch Logano.

“I can’t believe it dude, he’s driving away from me,” Busch said over his radio after the last restart.

There were only two cautions for 11 laps over the entire 300-mile race, including one with 14 laps remaining that sent Busch and most of the rest of the field into the pits. Busch took two tires.

“Clean air was bigger than tires,” Logano said. “We made the right call.”

Logano also won Nationwide races at Kentucky Speedway and Nashville, Tenn.

Crew chief Dave Rogers said he made the call to keep Logano on the track because the No. 20 Toyota turned its fastest laps during practice on old tires.

“I knew old tires had them in it,” Rogers said.

Busch was second. Brian Vickers, Jason Leffler and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

“Joey had a better car than us tonight,” Busch said.

Busch kept his overall points lead over pole winner Carl Edwards. It was the fourth 1-2 Logano-Busch combination finish this year.

“They’ve just got their stuff together,” Vickers said.

Busch knows he’s in good shape to contend for the series championship, but he was looking for a win under the lights. He’s finished first or second in each of the past six Nationwide races.

“I’m a now guy,” Busch said. “I hate to wait.”

Busch said he felt like Logano’s team made the wrong call when he refused to stop for tires. There were long stretches of green flag racing that made the clean race easier for the drivers, but didn’t lead to terribly exciting racing.

Vickers, who won the pole for the Cup race, hoped the third-place finish can translate into another strong effort for Saturday night’s race.

“We had the best car at times, usually at the end of the run,” Vickers said. “I thought we had a shot there at the end. I think we’ve got a really good car for tomorrow, so hopefully we can be there at the end of the race.”

Logano, who led 96 laps, is making these races look easy lately and one of the top prospects in years is putting the sport on notice that he’s a contender to win every week. He was all smiles as he shook off a beverage bath in Victory Lane — one he’d gladly take again if it means a few more checkered flags.

His average speed of 147.340 mph set the Chicagoland record.

“Everyone has their turn at the top. Right now, it’s our turn at the top,” Rogers said. “We know there’s a lot of people there that want to beat us.”