It was only one week ago when Joey Logano tumbled through Turn 3 at Dover. It seemed the No. 20 car would not stop rolling. Thrust into the national media limelight following the incident, the 19-year-old rookie who took the scariest roller-coaster ride of his life and handled the situation with veteran character. Back in the car at Kansas, and the after effects are nil.
Logano surged to the outside of Kyle Busch to steal a Nationwide Series win from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the fourth time this season, bringing 81,000 race fans to their feet. He took the checkered flag on the Kansas Lottery 300 after passing Busch with three laps remaining.
“I definitely had a big week going on after the roll and my grandfather’s not in great shape. So I had an emotional weekend that’s for sure,” Logano said during his post-race interview. “I did come here to Kansas and to get back in the Nationwide car with (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) and the whole No. 20 bunch.
"To go out there and race hard and be able to come home with a big W, That was probably one of my coolest wins. It wasn’t really expected. It was a good effort by all the Game Stop Guys today and you know it was a lot of fun too.”
Logano addressed his emotions and possible trepidation getting back in the car after one week, saying, “I had no fear. I don’t think about anything like that. I don’t think 90 percent of these race car drivers out there think like that.
"If you can barrel roll a race car like that and come out okay, it’s going to give you confidence to drive even harder. This should put it all to rest I would hope.”
Busch led 173 laps of the 200-lap distance. His dominance earned him the season high laps led distinction with 2,226 laps, beatinig the record set by Sam Ard in 1984 of 2,127 laps.
During his post-race interview, Busch explained his position on the track when Logano broke the plane and passed him, saying, “Unfortunately we got beat by another driver. So it wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t our day, I guess."
Joe Gibbs Racing has a total of 10 wins in the Nationwide Series in 2009. Busch leads the way with six, while Logano has four victories. Saturday marked Logano’s fifth career victory in his 37 starts.
Brad Keselowski finished third with Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle rounding out the top five. Rookie sensation Parker Klingerman, who took the field by storm and collected his first pole position, finished the race in 16th spot, running on the lead lap.
Busch continues to lead the point standings by 245 points over Carl Edwards and 307 over Brad Keselowski. Jason Leffler and Justin Allgaier round out the top five. Six events remain before the champion will be crowned at Miami-Homestead Speedway on Nov. 21.
