NASCAR
Joey Logano Dominant at Richmond Raceway for Second 2026 Win, Up to Ninth in Points
RICHMOND, Va. – Entering Saturday night at Richmond with nine top-fives in the last 15 races here, many eyes were on Joey Logano. Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang found the lead late in Stage 2 and hardly ever looked back. Logano, now a two-time winner in the last four races, took Richmond trophy number three. The three-time Cup champion also continues an unprecedented ascent up the Chase grid, now finding himself well inside the top-16 cut.
Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney started Richmond on pole and took the Stage 1 win. Logano only navigated his way to the point near halfway, as Chase Briscoe began fading. Briscoe’s No. 19 would lead a race-high 171 laps on the night, but lost crucial ground here. Logano would narrowly beat Briscoe off of pit road under the pivotal final cycle, giving him enough gap to hang on for a third career Richmond victory.
“Don’t let the boys get hot,” Logano said. “We’re pretty strong right now. Awesome to see the speed in the 22 again. Gosh, it was a great car. We’ve had a great car here the last five races. We haven’t been able to capitalize on the win. Been so close. Sweet redemption today.”
“We got a strong team, no doubt. Obviously Paul [Wolfe, crew chief] made some great calls there. The 19 was better than us that last run. I was trying to just manage the tires, able to get that gap. Yeah, kind of a fun back-and-forth battle. Fun strategy with different strategies out there. Typical Richmond race. Pretty cool to get one here. Yeah, on to Loudon and get another one.”
“[Briscoe] was faster. I kind of took off there. Okay, I’m going to be okay, I just have to pass the 20. I just fell off harder the last run there. Yeah, it was a fun, like I said, cat-and-mouse game there, back and forth. Yeah, getting the points that we need. This is important. We need to get ourselves back in the top 10. I assume this gets us close. We’ll keep grinding.”
Thanks to this win, Logano has launched himself up to ninth in points. As recently as Sonoma in June, the No. 22 was 20th in points and far outside of any Chase picture. Now between North Wilkesboro and Richmond, a sleeping giant may have been awoken as the 10-race championship hunt approaches.
Behind Logano and Briscoe at the finish were: Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott. The rest of Richmond’s top-10 were: Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, William Byron, and Alex Bowman. Richmond also saw Briscoe, Elliott, and Bell all lock into The Chase, now sealing up seven berths.
The next-to-last stop in NASCAR’s regular season will be The Magic Mile of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Dollar Tree 301 will go green Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Logano will be looking to hoist another lobster trophy at his home track.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to David Jensen/Getty Images
