Joey Logano makes late-race charge to victory at Richmond (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

When the dust settled, Joey Logano was smiling and several of his rivals were fuming.

All in all, just another short-track Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Logano was fourth on the final restart with nine laps to go, but roared past Jeff Gordon, teammate Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth to claim the Toyota Owners 400 and his second checkered flag of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

But as Logano celebrated, Keselowski took exception to Kenseth’s racing in the final laps and brake-checked him on the cool down lap. When they returned to the pits, Keselowski angrily pointed at Kenseth before making a playful leap onto the hood of Logano’s car (which was parked at the time, thankfully).

And while that played out, TV cameras captured another argument in the garage between Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose. The tiff escalated when Mears grabbed Ambrose by his firesuit and then climaxed with Ambrose punching Mears in the face before the two were broken up.

Ambrose and Mears finished 18th and 19th respectively, which shows just how fierce the tempers can be in Richmond’s tight quarters.

As for Logano’s charge to victory, it was an impressive one.

His big move to the front started with five to go, when he used the inside line to pass Gordon for third in Turn 3. As the leaders headed down the frontstretch, Keselowski got loose and was able to save it but had to give up second to Logano.

Then in Turn 1, Logano hunted down Kenseth on the inside and was able to complete the pass off of Turn 2. From there, it was all academic.

“I’m more surprised than anyone else – this is probably one of my worst racetracks,” Logano said to Fox Sports. “But I guess not today.

“What a crazy finish. I had a really bad restart and I was like, ‘Man, I really screwed up, I’m not going to win.’ And then, once they started battling ahead of me – and [Kenseth] did a real good job of blocking [Keselowski] at the top – we were able to capitalize basically. When they were blocking the top, I was able to get some air on the bottom and then get past.”

Gordon, the Sprint Cup points leader, ultimately finished second at a distant 9.9 seconds behind Logano. Kyle Busch made a late run to finish third ahead of fourth-place Keselowski, and Kenseth was kicked back to fifth at the finish.

Keselowski eventually explained why he took umbrage at Kenseth, who played strong defense for the lead against both Keselowski and Gordon before Logano ultimately got them all.

“I had a shot at winning the race and he ran me off the track, but you race to win and he was definitely racing to win,” Keselowski said. “But you hope that when somebody races to win, they’ll at least win the race if they’re gonna wreck you or run you off the race track.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished seventh, had a front-row seat to the issues on the cool-down lap and tried to figure it all out – at least, for a moment.

“[Kenseth] is mad at [Keselowski] and so, he slammed on the brakes after the checkered. [A.J. Allmendinger] ran into [Kenseth], I ran into [Kenseth],” he said. “That was – I don’t know what that was all about. Get over it [laughs].”

Sound advice from Earnhardt, considering that the monstrous Talladega Superspeedway looms next weekend. That’s definitely not the best place to take revenge on the Sprint Cup circuit.

—

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES AT RICHMOND – Toyota Owners 400
Unofficial Results
1. Joey Logano, led 46 laps
2. Jeff Gordon, led 173 laps
3. Kyle Busch
4. Brad Keselowski, led 114 laps
5. Matt Kenseth, led 35 laps
6. A.J. Allmendinger
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., led seven laps
8. Ryan Newman
9. Carl Edwards
10. Martin Truex Jr.
11. Kevin Harvick, led 23 laps
12. Brian Vickers
13. Jamie McMurray
14. Kasey Kahne
15. Greg Biffle
16. Kyle Larson
17. Aric Almirola
18. Marcos Ambrose
19. Casey Mears
20. David Gilliland
21. Justin Allgaier
22. Denny Hamlin
23. Kurt Busch
24. Paul Menard
ONE LAP DOWN
25. Tony Stewart
TWO LAPS DOWN
26. Landon Cassill, led one lap
27. Austin Dillon
28. Alex Bowman
THREE LAPS DOWN
29. David Reutimann
FOUR LAPS DOWN
30. David Ragan
31. Ryan Truex
32. Jimmie Johnson
33. Michael Annett
FIVE LAPS DOWN
34. Danica Patrick
35. David Stremme
SIX LAPS DOWN
36. Travis Kvapil, led one lap
NINE LAPS DOWN
37. Joe Nemechek
10 LAPS DOWN
38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
39. Josh Wise
—
40. J.J. Yeley, Lap 380, Engine
41. Cole Whitt, Lap 367, Running
42. Reed Sorenson, Lap 225, Electrical
43. Clint Bowyer, Lap 159, Suspension

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Another crash while leading at Seattle dropped Chase Sexton from the top of the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings while solid performances by Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac allow them to climb the chart and threaten to make this a two-rider battle with six rounds remaining in the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season.

SuperMotocross Power Rankings Seattle — *Cooper Webb wags his finger at Chase Sexton after winning his heat in Seattle. – Feld Motor Sports*

During the race, Webb knew he had ground to make up. Riding behind both Tomac and Sexton early in the Main, he was as far back as fifth on Lap 7 at Seattle. That position would cost him the red plate and give away the advantage he began to build with his first win of the season in Tampa. Sexton is often at his best as he battles from the back and he methodically worked his way through the field. At the end of the feature, he was nearly five seconds off Tomac’s pace, but during the past 45 days, he holds the advantage. A resurgent Tomac that could erase that advantage quickly though.

Tomac struggled in Indianapolis with a neck strain. That contributed to his worst performance of 2023 and his second result outside the top five. He finished third in Detroit two weeks ago, but it was a distant third after finishing off the podium in his heat during that round. In Seattle, it appeared the same thing might happen when Tomac finished third in the prelim behind his two principal competitors Webb and Sexton. The Main was a different story.

Tomac dropped to fourth in the opening laps behind both of his rivals early in the race, but he got around Webb on Lap 2 and kept charging. When Sexton fell to the ground on Lap 11 and dropped to fourth, Tomac was in position to strike. He scored his sixth win of the season to tie James Stewart for second on the all-time wins list. He now shares the red plate with Webb as the rounds wind down.

MORE: Eli Tomac gets rebound win in Seattle

Sexton has the speed, but he lacks the seasoning of Webb and Tomac. He’s pressing hard on every lap and that has bitten him several times this year. Sexton’s mistakes are costing him with a 10th-place finish at Indy, the loss of seven points at Detroit and a fifth in Seattle as the riders he’s battling stood on the podium. No one seriously questions Sexton’s talent or speed, but ultimately the results are what counts.

Justin Barcia is hitting his stride. He advances two positions this week after scoring his fourth consecutive top-five and second podium in that span of races. Barcia finished between sixth and eighth in five consecutive rounds from Anaheim 2 through Arlington, but he’s mostly avoided controversy and that puts him fourth in this week’s SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Seattle.

Jason Anderson had a solid performance in Seattle, but with a fifth-place finish in his heat and fourth in the Main he just keeps losing a little ground to the leaders. The biggest impact to his standing in the NBC Power Rankings is a 10th-place finish in Indianapolis that will take a while to age out of the 45-day formula. He’s tied for fourth in the championship points with Ken Roczen, who sits sixth in the rankings below. It’s important to be the rider “best in class” with Webb, Tomac and Sexton stealing the show.

450 Rankings

This Week	Rider	Power Avg.	Last Week	Diff.
1.	Cooper Webb	87.77	2	1
2.	Eli Tomac	86.23	3	1
3.	Chase Sexton	85.77	1	-2
4.	Justin Barcia	80.71	6	2
5.	Jason Anderson	80.69	4	-1
6.	Ken Roczen	80.46	5	-1
7.	Aaron Plessinger	75.86	7	0
8.	Adam Cianciarulo	71.13	8	0
9.	Christian Craig	69.86	9	0
10.	Justin Cooper	62.88	10	0
11.	Justin Hill	59.86	11	0
12.	Dean Wilson	52.86	12	0
13.	Josh Hill	49.00	15	2
14.	Colt Nichols	48.67	13	-1
15.	Shane McElrath	45.62	14	-1
16.	Benny Bloss	43.00	16	0
17.	Grant Harlan	38.08	20	3
18.	Max Miller	37.67	24	6
19.	Lane Shaw	36.67	21	2
20.	Cade Clason	34.67	19	-1

Supercross 450 Points

Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb will both run the red plates in Glendale as they sit tied with 248 points 🔴#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/iE2PP6jivB

— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) March 28, 2023

The 250 West riders were back in action in Seattle and that gave Jett Lawrence the opportunity to break out of a tie with his brother Hunter Lawrence on the all-time wins list. It also provided Jett the opportunity to take back the top spot in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Seattle.

Jett has stood on the podium in every race this year with the exception of the second Triple Crown race at Anaheim 2 and that level of perfection gives him bragging rights. Rest assured that while the two brothers have a bond that is unapparelled in motorsports, there is no one they would rather beat. Neither has been particularly successful in Triple Crown rounds this year, however, and Jett could lose his advantage in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona under that format.

Lawrence is now two wins away from capturing the fourth-most wins at this level.

A rivalry is developing between Lawrence and Cameron McAdoo. Tired of losing to the affable Australian, McAdoo pushed the envelope last week in Seattle. He crowded Lawrence in the whoops during their heat race and sent both to the ground. That frustration could bubble over with four rounds remaining. One thing is certain, when these two riders are in proximity on the track, the cameras will be aimed in their direction.

Supercross 250 Points

A little means a lot this season. Finishing second to Lawrence in four of five rounds, RJ Hampshire would be losing ground to the leader no matter what, but an 11th-place finish in the overall at Anaheim 2 places him eighth on the chart below behind two of the 250 West riders and five 250 East competitors.

In the mains, Levi Kitchen has been all over the board with a win, one more top-five, two results on the high side of the single digits and a crash-induced 21st at San Diego. He’s really shown his speed in the heats, however, with a perfect record of top-fives and a win.

Mitchell Oldenburg makes the top five list among West riders with a perfect record of top-10 finishes. He’s heading in the wrong direction, however, falling from ninth overall to 11th after finishing outside the top five in both his heat and the Main last week.

250 Rankings

This Week	Rider	Power Avg.	Last Week	Diff,
1.	Jett Lawrence – W	90.75	2	1
2.	Hunter Lawrence – E	90.43	1	-1
3.	Nate Thrasher – E	84.00	3	0
4.	Cameron McAdoo – W	80.50	4	0
5.	Haiden Deegan – E	78.21	5	0
6.	Jeremy Martin – E	78.00	6	0
7.	Jordon Smith – E	76.77	7	0
8.	RJ Hampshire – W	76.75	10	2
9.	Levi Kitchen – W	76.67	8	-1
10.	Max Anstie – E	74.43	11	1
11.	Mitchell Oldenburg – W	73.67	9	-2
12.	Max Vohland – W	72.55	13	1
13.	Tom Vialle – E	72.07	12	-1
14.	Pierce Brown – W	68.64	19	5
15.	Enzo Lopes – W	67.83	17	2
16.	Chris Blose – E	67.43	15	-1
17.	Chance Hymas – E	67.10	16	-1
18.	Michael Mosiman – E	65.80	18	0
19.	Stilez Robertson – W	64.45	14	-5
20.	Phil Nicoletti – W	59.25	20	0

* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days for the 450 class and last 90 days for 250s (because of the split nature of their season).

POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 10 AT SEATTLE: Chase Sexton narrowly leads Cooper Webb
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 8 AT DAYTONA: Sexton unseats Eli Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 7 AT ARLINGTON: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 6 AT OAKLAND: Perfect night keeps Tomac first
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 5 AT TAMPA: Sexton, Webb close in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 4 AT HOUSTON: Tomac rebounds from A2 crash, retakes lead
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Roczen moves up, Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage

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