Joey Logano moves Byron for Goodyear 400 win

Regardless of a Jeff Gordon fan’s opinion on the current #24 driver William Byron, it probably did not feel good seeing a #24 blue/red flames car in the wall while leading with two laps remaining. Byron was battling with Joey Logano before the latter moved him aside and into the wall before pulling away to win Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, as payback for earlier contact.

Logano started on the pole and was stout as he led 108 of 293 total laps, over twice as much as the next driver (Denny Hamlin’s forty-two). Although Kyle Larson was on point early on as he battled with Logano, his race fell apart following a lap 56 spin and engine failure on lap 112. By the end of Stage #1, Logano led Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Byron, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, and Bubba Wallace. Chastain won the second stage, with Truex, Logano, Hamlin, Byron, Jones, Bell, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, and Daniel Suárez in tow.

Despite getting stage points, Busch, Wallace, and Chastain would not reach the finish. Busch wrecked out on lap 168 after Brad Keselowski hit the wall in front of him, while Chastain spun while racing for the lead on lap 196. Wallace was involved in a nine-car crash that collected him and 23XI Racing team-mate Kurt Busch, Elliott, Hamlin, Jones, Truex, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, and Cole Custer.

Shortly after the ensuing restart, Byron squeezed Logano into the turn two wall, though Logano kept going. Although Byron had the pace, Logano gradually whittled the margin before catching him on the penultimate lap.

As they entered turn three, Logano hit Byron’s rear bumper, causing him to slide up the wall. With Reddick too far back and Byron dropping out of the top ten entirely, Logano took the white and checkered flags. The win is his first points payer of 2022 after winning the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and his second at Darlington in a national series after previously taking the now-Xfinity Series victory there in 2012.

“The coolest thing is getting this (throwback) car into Victory Lane,” Logano told FOX Sports. “This is the car where it all started for me back in ’95 in a quarter midget. Really honestly all the young kids racing out there right now, this could be you. I’ve got Silver City Quarter Midget Club on the back, all the cool things that went along with this car, and we got it into Victory Lane.”

To little surprise, Byron was not happy with the contact. He commented, “We were really close off of (turn) two and I think it spooked him and got him tight, and he was right against the wall and I got the lead.

“He’s just an idiot. He does this stuff all the time. I’ve seen it with other guys. He drove in there ten miles an hour too fast, and with these Next Gen cars, he slammed me so hard it knocked the whole right side off the car and no way to make the corner. He’s just a moron. He can’t win a race so he does it that way.”

During his interview, Logano said in kind, “You’re not going to put me in the wall and not get anything back. That’s how that works.”

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	1	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	293	Running
2	10	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	293	Running
3	29	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	293	Running
4	35	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	293	Running
5	34	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	293	Running
6	3	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	293	Running
7	16	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	293	Running
8	26	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	293	Running
9	14	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	293	Running
10	20	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	293	Running
11	12	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	293	Running
12	21	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	293	Running
13	9	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	293	Running
14	25	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	293	Running
15	27	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	293	Running
16	18	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	293	Running
17	7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	293	Running
18	19	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	293	Running
19	31	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	293	Running
20	13	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	293	Running
21	22	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	292	Running
22	33	77	Landon Cassill*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	292	Running
23	32	15	J.J. Yeley*	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	288	Running
24	4	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	263	Accident
25	11	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	262	Accident
26	28	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	260	Accident
27	17	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	260	Accident
28	6	45	Kurt Busch	23XI Racing	Toyota	260	Accident
29	15	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	255	Accident
30	8	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	194	Accident
31	24	16	Daniel Hemric*	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	188	Engine
32	36	78	B.J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	184	Brakes
33	5	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	167	Accident
34	23	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	166	Accident
35	30	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	152	Accident
36	2	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	112	Engine

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Cup points