Seven laps was all Logano needed
Joey Logano started the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from the pole and led 93 of its laps, yet the decisive stretch was short. With five to go, Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs made contact while fighting for the win, and Logano slipped through. He led the final seven laps at Bristol Motor Speedway overnight and climbed to third in the points standings.
Kyle Larson came home second, which moved him into the Chase lead by a single point over Denny Hamlin, who had held it since Sonoma. Christopher Bell was fourth. Gibbs finished fifth after leading 120 laps, more than anyone else in the race.
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Hocevar and Blaney settle it on pit road
Hocevar finished third and still managed to take the night away from the winner. With 41 laps remaining, running second, the 23-year-old wrecked Ryan Blaney from behind. Blaney was waiting when Hocevar stopped his car after the checkered flag.
The shove came first. Hocevar swung twice, Blaney went down on the pavement, got back up and threw one of his own before the two crews pulled them apart. Hocevar has spent the season collecting enemies among the veterans with exactly this kind of driving, and Saturday was the bill arriving.
Bristol remembers Kyle Busch
Gibbs ran a No. 54 Toyota carrying a throwback scheme for Kyle Busch, who won 23 races across NASCAR’s national series at Bristol, more than any driver in the track’s history. Busch died in May. Fans waved yellow towels on the 18th lap, a nod to the number he carried through two Cup Series championships, and his widow Samantha spoke to the crowd before the green flag.
Bristol “was always so special to Kyle,” she said, describing 20 years in which the sport was the family’s life.
Away from the track, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a motion Thursday claiming Spire Motorsports and chief motorsports officer Chris Gabehart breached a temporary restraining order in the intellectual property lawsuit between the teams. Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson answered on Friday night, saying months of discovery had shown his team had done nothing wrong.
The Cup Series now starts a run of three straight races on 1.5-mile ovals, beginning at Kansas Speedway on September 27. Tyler Reddick won there in April.
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