Joey Logano wins at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. -- What you need to know from Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway, the ninth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race:

WINNER: Joey Logano nabbed his first victory of the season, holding off Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski by about 10 car lengths. Logano, among a grounp of drivers who pitted for tires on the final caution on Lap 378, was able to pull away from the field once he passed Kyle Larson, who had opted to stay out. Keselowski finished second, Denny Hamlin third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth.

“Coming from the back … man, it really feels good. I’m out of breath," said Logano, who won in his 300th career start. "We had a good restart and were able to get enough cushion. I think there were four Fords in the top five and that’s something to be proud of as well.”

Keselowski set up the closing laps that allowed the teammates to make a run.

“The last restart there were about six or seven cars that stayed out and we got behind one that was going really slow," he said. "Really what we needed was about 10 more laps. A lot better than what we were in practice. I was pleased with our speed.”

TESTY BUSCH: Kyle Busch had one of the faster cars Sunday and was contending for the win when he was hit with a commitment line violation on the final round of pit stops. He walked briskly toward the garage after the race and offered this comment on the penalty that doomed him to a 16th-place finish: ''Balls and strikes.''

EARNHARDT’S WOES: Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the wall with 57 laps remaining and then his Hendrick Motorsports teammate hit him. Earnhardt had a right front tire go down and careened up into the wall between Turn 3 and Turn 4. He then got plowed into by Jimmie Johnson, who appeared not to see his teammate slowing down. After both drivers made repairs on pit road and returned to the track one lap down, Earnhardt brought out the caution again 14 laps later when he spun and hit the wall again in Turn 3 after losing another tire. Earnhardt started 12th in his first race since announcing Tuesday he will retire from NASCAR Cup racing at the end of the season. He showed speed early but was nabbed for going too fast on pit road in the opening stage and forced to restart at the tail end of the line. His frustration with his car was clear in his agitation on the team radio. He wound up finishing 30th.

PHOTOS: DALE EARNHARDT JR.'S RETIREMENT TOUR

STAGE 2: Brad Keselowski won the second stage after taking the lead from pole winner Matt Kenseth on Lap 164. Kenseth led the first 163 laps before the Team Penske driver overtook him. Keselowski is a two-time winner this season, taking victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Martinsville Raceway. Kenseth finished second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Ty Dillon and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

STAGE 1: Kenseth went wire-to-wire, leading all 100 laps of the opening stage. Kenseth became just the second Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win a stage this season, joining Kyle Busch, who won the first stage of the Daytona 500. Larson finished second in Stage 1, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Harvick and Hamlin. Keselowski was sixth, followed by Newman, McMurray, Bowyer and Logano.

EARLY OUT:  Erik Jones, who was strong all weekend in practice, watched his day end before it had barely begun. The No. 77 Furniture Row Racing driver cut a left-front tire on Lap 5 before slamming into the Turn 4 wall. Jones appeared to make contact on the opening lap with Kasey Kahne, whose No. 5 Chevrolet also suffered some slight damage to the right front. “We got three-wide right on the start and then the 5 ran us up into the fence,” Jones said after he was evaluated and released from the infield care center. “I was trying not to wreck everybody and we got run into the wall by the 5 and then a couple laps later we cut a left front, so it’s really unfortunate. We only made five laps, 10 laps of the race and we’re already out, so it’s just really a heartbreaking day.”

GREEN FLAG: Kenseth started on the pole for the first time this season, potentially portending a strong day for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has won the last three races at Richmond International Raceway -- Kenseth (September 2015), Carl Edwards (April 2016) and Hamlin (September 2016).  Kenseth has not won since July 17, 2016, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Follow Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow

PHOTOS: 2017 NASCAR CUP WINNERS

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

At Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va.

Lap length: 0.75 miles (start position in parentheses)

1. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 400 laps, 42 points.

2. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400, 50.

3. (16) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400, 47.

4. (4) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 400, 33.

5. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 400, 47.

6. (10) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 400, 38.

7. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 400, 39.

8. (9) Kurt Busch, Ford, 400, 29.

9. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400, 28.

10. (3) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 400, 35.

11. (17) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400, 26.

12. (11) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 400, 25.

13. (29) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 400, 24.

14. (18) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400, 38.

15. (8) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 400, 27.

16. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400, 21.

17. (23) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 400, 20.

18. (21) Danica Patrick, Ford, 400, 19.

19. (30) David Ragan, Ford, 400, 18.

20. (38) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 400, 17.

21. (28) Landon Cassill, Ford, 400, 16.

22. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 400, 15.

23. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 400, 33.

24. (14) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 400, 13.

25. (26) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 400, 12.

26. (24) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 400, 13.

27. (36) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 400, 10.

28. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 400, 9.

29. (27) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 399, 8.

30. (12) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 398, 7.

31. (31) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 398, 6.

32. (34) Corey LaJoie, Toyota, 396, 5.

33. (33) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 395, 4.

34. (37) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 393, 0.

35. (35) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 392, 2.

36. (2) Ryan Blaney, Ford, accident, 378, 1.

37. (22) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 333, 1.

38. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, accident, 4, 1.

———

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 93.685 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 12 minutes, 8 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.775 seconds.

Caution Flags: 9 for 53 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: M.Kenseth 1-163; B.Keselowski 164-204; M.Kenseth 205; D.Hamlin 206-228; K.Harvick 229-237; B.Keselowski 238-251; K.Harvick 252; D.Hamlin 253-286; B.Keselowski 287-319; R.Newman 320-344; K.Harvick 345; B.Keselowski 346-357; Ky.Busch 358; B.Keselowski 359-360; D.Hamlin 361-362; B.Keselowski 363-370; J.Logano 371-378; K.Larson 379-383; J.Logano 384-400.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Kenseth, 2 times for 162 laps; B.Keselowski, 6 times for 104 laps; D.Hamlin, 3 times for 56 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 24 laps; J.Logano, 2 times for 23 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 8 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 4 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 0 laps.

Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Larson, 398; 2. M.Truex, 358; 3. C.Elliott, 346; 4. J.Logano, 333; 5. B.Keselowski, 327; 6. K.Harvick, 286; 7. J.McMurray, 282; 8. J.Johnson, 270; 9. C.Bowyer, 266; 10. Ky.Busch, 235; 11. D.Hamlin, 231; 12. R.Blaney, 229; 13. R.Newman, 225; 14. T.Bayne, 216; 15. R.Stenhouse, 201; 16. E.Jones, 193.