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NASCAR Nationwide Series
VIDEO: Last Lap Chicagoland - Logano Wins
Joey Logano holds off teammate Kyle Busch for Chicagoland win....
SceneDaily.com  |  Posted July 10, 2009   Joliet, IL
Joey Logano wins at Chicagoland. (Photo: LAT Photographic) VIDEO NNS: Chicagoland Last Lap
Joey Logano wins at Chicagoland. (Photo: LAT Photographic) NNS: Chicagoland Last Lap

VIDEO NNS: Chicagoland Last Lap

As they have been so many other times this season, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano were the class of the NASCAR Nationwide Series field Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway.

The only question as the race roared to its conclusion: Which JGR driver would take home the Dollar General 300 trophy?

In the end, Logano prevailed to win his third race of the season, and fourth of his career.

Busch and Logano were evenly matched, with Busch faster earlier in runs, and Logano later. The deciding factor came down to a pit stop on lap 187, during the race’s second and final caution. Busch led several other drivers down pit road for a couple of fresh tires, while crew chief Dave Rogers ordered Logano to stay out.

NATIONWIDE SERIES RESULTS CHICAGOLAND

That made Logano a sitting duck on the restart with 10 laps to go. Or so went conventional wisdom. Even Rogers admitted he thought he’d made a mistake.

But a funny thing happened on the restart. Busch, who lined up third (Jason Leffler also stayed out on old tires and restarted second), went outside Logano two laps later off Turn 2, and appeared to have the edge. But Logano shut the door.

To the surprise of almost everyone, Logano and the No. 20 then steadily pulled away from the No. 18 Toyota.

With three laps to go, Busch keyed his in-car radio.

“I can’t believe it, dude, he’s driving away from me,” a perplexed Busch said.

Braun Racing's Brian Vickers finished third, followed by Braun's Leffler and Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Kevin Harvick.

“Joey had a better car than us tonight,” Busch said. “Overall, it was a good night, we led a lot of laps, but we still got beat at the end there.”

NATIONWIDE SERIES DRIVER POINT STANDINGS

Logano, Busch, Vickers and Leffler gave Toyota it’s first-ever 1-2-3-4 finish in the Nationwide Series.

That the race would be decided between the two JGR drivers never seemed in doubt.

Logano seized the lead from Carl Edwards on lap 18 and threatened to turn the race into a laugher. By the time the first caution of the lap came out on lap 93 (for debris), the young driver had lapped all but nine other cars. But Busch won the race off pit road during that first caution period, then bolted away on the lap 98 restart. He quickly built a lead of several seconds. But as the rest of the field fell steadily lost ground, Logano hung tough, a couple of seconds behind. They’d swap the lead another couple of times before that last restart.

They combined to lead 174 of the race's 200 laps.

VIDEO NNS: Chicagoland Last Lap

Meanwhile the rest of the field is left wondering how to catch up with the potent 1-2 JGR punch from the No. 20 and No. 18 teams.

“It’s definitely frustrating … they definitely have their stuff together,” said Vickers. “They don’t make mistakes, they seem to have the best pit crews in the Nationwide Series.”

SceneDaily.com • NASCAR fines JD Motorsports crew chief for transmission violation at Daytona
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