Logano Wins Nationwide Copart 300 in California
Oct 12, 2009
Logano Wins Nationwide Copart 300 in California
Resurrecting his hopes after sustaining early damage to his No. 20 Toyota, polesitter Joey Logano won Saturday's Copart 300, an event he described as "the most fun race I've ever had in my life."
For others, particularly Nationwide Series points leader Kyle Busch and his relief driver, Denny Hamlin, the race at two-mile Auto Club Speedway was anything but a barrel of laughs.
Taking over for Busch after 39 laps -- because Busch had a case of the flu that wouldn't let up -- Hamlin collided with Greg Biffle off Turn 4 while fighting for the lead on Lap 141, exited the race with an irreparable car and was credited with a 31st-place finish.
The accident put a substantial dent in Busch's points lead over third-place finisher Carl Edwards, who now trails Busch by 155 points with five races left in the season. Brad Keselowski, who rallied from a slow restart on a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance, finished fifth and is third in points, 227 behind Busch.
Logano rallied from 25th position after Biffle forced him into the backstretch wall while Biffle was passing for the lead on Lap 50 of 152.
"I didn't think we had a shot at it after Biffle decided to put us in the wall," said Logano, who pulled away from runner-up Brian Vickers after the final restart on Lap 151. "Apparently, that was the only way he thought he could beat us, but you can't put this 20 team down.
"We never quit, kept digging all day. I definitely didn't think we had a shot at it. It was just amazing. ... That was the most fun race I ever had in my life. I went through a point there where [I said to myself] 'I don't have a shot at this' to 'Try to salvage a top 10 out of it' to bringing home a W."
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