LAS VEGAS – In a battle of Team Penske teammates on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Joey Logano came out on top over Brad Keselowski to win his sponsor’s race, the Pennzoil 400.
Logano and Keselowski traded the lead twice between one another inside the final 30 laps at the 1.5-mile Sin City oval, but it was the driver of the No. 22 Ford who made the winning move with 24 to go.
With a diving move inside off the top of the banking in turns three and four, Logano cleared Keselowski at the start/finish line and then never looked back en route to victory lane.
Although Keselowski came back in the final laps and had a shot to duck underneath Logano in turn four on the final lap, Logano used momentum from the top lane to clear his teammate and get to the checkered flag first.
“Brad and I were so evenly matched, and the way the draft works, you just can’t drive away,” noted Logano. “My car got tight there the last five or six laps, and Brad was catching me so quick because I got stuck behind a lapped car. It’s so close … but being able to get it there at the end was a lot of fun.
“I figured he was going to run the wall down there, and he did. He made up more time than I thought he was going to,” Logano added. “I still had to run the wall so I could beat him. I knew he was going to go wherever I didn’t; he made such a good run on the bottom. I almost hit the wall but was able to barely clear him there at the end to be able to bring it to victory lane.
“A Team Penske one-two shows the speed we have. What a great day for Team Penske and Ford.”
Sunday’s race was the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion’s first of the season, and appropriately, the 22nd of his career as the Double Deuce came up aces.
“I told everyone from Pennzoil today we’d be doing donuts in the infield after the race,” Logano smiled. “They said this race is bigger than the Daytona 500 for them to win. What a great team this is, to get back into victory lane after (winning the title) last year.
“Getting back into the playoffs is a nice feeling. Now, we can race aggressively towards the playoffs.”
With the exception of the two stage breaks at laps 80 and 160, the 400-mile distance ran caution-free. Though Logano screamed past Harvick to assume command with 57 to go, green-flag pit stops broke out four laps later, with Keselowski the first to duck down for service.
By the time the round of stops concluded with 41 to go, Logano had cycled back out with the lead, but Keselowski slowly began eating into his teammate’s advantage and was on his bumper within 10 laps.
Keselowski’s shot at the top spot came with 28 circuits remaining, when he used a textbook slide job to snag the point away from Logano exiting turn four as the two leaders worked through traffic.
However, not to be denied, Logano used a near-identical move to reclaim command four laps later and the die was cast.
After the race, Keselowski lamented being “too nice” to his teammate in their late-race battle as perhaps being the reason he wasn’t the one celebrating in victory lane.
“Our Discount Tire Ford Mustang was really strong, and I thought it was a pretty good race,” Keselowski noted. “I passed Joey in lapped traffic and caught a break there, and then lapped traffic cost me the lead back to Joey.
“He pulled a good slide job and I tried to pull it back. I was just a touch too nice to him.”
After entering the day seeking his third-career tripleheader sweep, a lap-129 speeding penalty derailed Kyle Busch’s Sunday efforts and left him third at the checkered flag.
Kevin Harvick, who led the most laps, and Kurt Busch completed the top five.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was sixth, ahead of Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.