There was nothing in front of the No. 24 Nascar Chevy Camaro ZL1 of William Byron as the checkered flag loomed over the race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, but victory slipped away when Joey Logano in the No. 22 Ford Mustang put the bumper to the back of Byron’s No. 24 on the penultimate lap.
Logano’s No. 22 Mustang started on the pole, and he led for much of the race. Byron’s No. 24 Chevy showed speed all day long as well, and he held down the lead as the race went green after a caution on Lap 268. He and Logano in the No. 22 Mustang got close together entering Turn 2, however, and Logano got into the wall a little, earning a “Darlington stripe” as Byron’s No. 24 cruised by on the inside.
Logano collected the No. 22 Mustang and sent it after Byron’s No. 24 Camaro. Then, on the second-to-last lap, Logano threw the nose of the No. 22 Mustang into the rear bumper of Byron’s No. 24 Nascar Chevy. Byron shot up the track, opening the door for Logano to make the pass for the lead, and ultimately, the race win.
Byron was understandably heated about the contact that cost him the race. “[Logano and I] were really close off of [Turn] 2, and I think it spooked him and got him tight, and he was right against the wall, and I got the lead,” Byron explained of the restart that gave him the lead. “He’s just an idiot. He does this stuff all the time.
“Yeah, he’s just a moron,” Byron went on. “He can’t win a race, so he does it that way.”
Logano explained his side of the story. “Yeah, you’re not going to put me in the wall and not get anything back,” he said after the race, referencing the earlier contact between himself and Byron’s No. 24. “That’s how that works.”
Tyler Reddick’s No. 8 Chevy finished second to Logano, followed by the No. 31 Camaro of Justin Haley. Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang took home fourth, and Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro crossed the line in fifth in a backup car after wrecking in practice. Byron’s No. 24 Camaro was scored 13th. Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro led 30 laps after starting second, but a wreck forced him to retire and ultimately finish dead last in 36th.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 293 | 107 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 10 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 3CHI Chevrolet | 293 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 29 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 35 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Rheem Chasing a Cure Ford | 293 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 34 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell | SiriusXM Toyota | 293 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 16 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Navage Nasal Care Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 26 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Nature Valley Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 14 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Huk Performance Fishing Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 20 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Coca-Cola Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 12 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Haas Automation/Smithfield Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 21 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 9 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet | 293 | 24 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 25 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | DEX Imaging Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 27 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Black's Tire Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Socios.com Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 19 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Menards/Libman Ford | 293 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 31 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 293 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 13 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 22 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 292 | 42 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 22 | 33 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 292 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 32 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Ollie's Bargain Outlet Ford | 288 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 263 | 28 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 11 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 262 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 28 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 260 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 17 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | MoneyLion Toyota | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 6 | 45 | Kurt Busch | McDonald's Throwback Toyota | 260 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 15 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Throwback Chevrolet | 255 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Coca-Cola Chevrolet | 194 | 26 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 24 | 16 | Daniel Hemric(i) | AGI by Athletic Greens Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 36 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Ford | 184 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Toyota | 167 | 19 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 23 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Socios.com Ford | 166 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 30 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Stacking Pennies Chevrolet | 152 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet | 112 | 30 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Logano admits He hit him on purpose “Yeah, you’re not going to put me in the wall and not get anything back,” he said after the race, referencing the earlier contact between himself and Byron’s No. 24. “That’s how that works.”
HOW does He not get disqualified??? He is admitting ,He caused contact on purpose as retaliation for contact made earlier in the race and it happens on the last lap and helped him win the race??
Just push the guy out of your way and drive bye??
Agreed. NASCAR penalizes the wrong infractions. Didn’t Lagno do the same thing to Truex a while back to make the playoffs? This was blatant. Byron owed him one.
The 22 also did the same thing to Matt Kenseth at Kansas years ago, but Matt got even at Bristol. The 22 is wrecker, not a racer.
NASCAR buried their head in the sand years ago and it shows by all those empty seats in the stands! Sometimes I wonder if there are going to be more caution laps than actual race laps. They throw the caution in many incidents that they didn’t need to. A car completely driving with nobody around him spins out, hits nothing and collects the car to continue driving and out comes another caution for at least 5 laps but someone brushes the wall and causes others to dodge around him and no caution. Tomg
What a way to win totally uncalled for Logano is such an idiot this is the reason I’m quitting watching nascar if you can’t win clean then I don’t see a win sick of the pushing and bumping
LOGANO BOUGHT HIS WAY IN. TOO BAD HE DIDNT EARN IT. DADDYS BOY.
This wasn’t a Bristol bump and run. He pushed him up into the wall at like 150 mph. Imagine FIA letting something like this just go bye?
At your local NASCAR sanctioned short track Logano’s dumping of the #24 would have disqualified him.
And stop with the f***ing “bump” and run description.
It was a full-on slam — and going into a turn no less!!
It’s what immature and desperate Joey does when he can’t get by someone; that and block lead cars even when he’s 6 laps down. He’s done it since he was a kid in go-karts.
NASCAR made this bed all by itself, and now they don’t have the balls (or sensibility??) to correct this major mistake of allowing a weekly CRASH-TO-WIN downward spiral.
Green-White-Checker was a misguided cop-out on NASCAR’s part when they arrived at the conclusion they could not stop the end-of-race crashes. So this was supposed to offer some form or facsimile of ‘racing to the checker’ when actual racing was no longer possible due to alleged adults smashing one another trying to win from 10th place.
It’s a sad situation anymore.
I’ve enjoyed NASCAR’s events since 1962, but have had a hard time justifying my interest and allegiance the past decade. Not sure I can keep wasting 3 – 4 hours just to have a non-finish finish. I like racing to the checker — not slamming & crashing one’s opponent because you can’t pass them.