New Hampshire win could launch Joey Logano toward NASCAR championship

LOUDON, N.H. —  Raised in Connecticut, Joey Logano always considered New Hampshire Motor Speedway his home track, the one where he dreamed of being bathed in confetti in Victory Lane and surrounded by family and friends.

For Logano, the track about 75 miles outside of Boston was his version of Daytona.

Winning at New Hampshire could mean more to him than a boyhood fantasy fulfilled — it could be Logano’s launching pad for his first NASCAR championship.

Logano helped Team Penske strengthen its grip as the organization to beat for the championship, pulling away on an overtime restart to win Sunday at New Hampshire and advance to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Make it 2 for 2 for Team Penske in the Chase.

“We’re doing what we’ve got to do to win this thing right now,” Logano said.

Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski, who won the Chase opener at Chicagoland, have both advanced to the next round. Four drivers will be eliminated after every third race, and a win guarantees a driver an automatic berth into the next round. The first cutoff race is next week at Dover International Speedway in Delaware.

Team Penske will be playing with house money at the Monster Mile. Roger Penske’s crew is rolling, winning four of the last five races dating to Bristol and snagging the early lead on the scorecard against Hendrick Motorsports.

“Confidence is high through the 22 team right now, all of Team Penske,” Logano said. “All of Team Penske. We feel like we’ve got some championships to win, not only on the Cup side, but Nationwide side. And you’ve got IndyCar. We’re just trying to catch up to them.”

Will Power won the IndyCar Series championship for Penske last month.

At New Hampshire on Sunday, Logano raced to his fourth victory of the season, leading 73 laps and surviving a NASCAR season-high 15 cautions that wrecked results for several Chase drivers.

He took the lead from Kevin Harvick with 27 laps left and went on to his seventh career Cup victory.

Logano attended his first NASCAR race at New Hampshire when he was 5, made his first career Cup start here and won his first race in 2009. But that was a rain-shortened win that always gnawed at Logano. Until he became a regular winner, it was considered a bit of a fluke, and the rain meant Logano was denied a traditional victory celebration.

This time, he took the No. 22 Ford for the celebratory burnouts and a spin around the track holding the checkered flag.

“I didn’t know where Victory Lane was, actually,” Logano said. “I just didn’t want to come in. I want to stay out. I never got out in front of all the fans on the front straightaway before. It was just too cool.”

Keselowski led 78 laps, hit the wall and still was in the hunt for a win. The 2012 champion failed in his bid to win a third straight Cup race, but salvaged a seventh-place finish.

“We certainly have a lot to be proud of, but there’s a lot of work to do,” Keselowski said.

Keselowski and Logano are 1-2 in the points standings. Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola are in the bottom four of the 16-driver field at and risk of getting cut Sept. 28 at Dover.

Rookie Kyle Larson was second at New Hampshire. Chase drivers took seven of the first 10 spots at New Hampshire. Harvick was third, Jimmie Johnson fifth, Almirola sixth, Kyle Busch eighth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10th.

“It’s not all about winning and losing at this point. It’s about advancing,” said Harvick, who led a race-high 104 laps.

The staggering number of cautions slowed the 300-mile race and wrecked the chances for several Chase drivers to contend for a win. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Hamlin and Matt Kenseth; Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne; and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch all finished outside of the top 20.

Tony Stewart was 30th in his first race since he learned a grand jury will decide his fate in the fatal sprint car crash in upstate New York.

Logano gave Ford its 12th win this season and 630th overall.

“We’ve got to keep our eye on the prize and think about the big trophy at the end,” Logano said.