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NASCAR: Logano throws back and wins at Darlington

tyler auffhammer, the mountaineer, waynesville, n.c.
·4 min read

May 11—This past weekend was a walk down memory lane, three days' worth to be exact.

The month of May in Darlington is a throwback to yesteryear, a place where NASCAR's past, present and future meet, with the legends of the sport stopping by the track to visit and help from giving the command to waving the green flag to announcing in the booth, the current stars of the sport showing on the track why they are indeed the stars and the young up-and-comers in the sport trying their best to survive "the Track to Tough to Tame."

Sunday was a fun day for Joey Logano (22), who's car ran a paint scheme that threw back to his very first race car, a quarter midget kart.

The paint seemed to help him remember how to get the pole and how to win, because he was first in practice, qualifying and first in getting to the checkered flag with a .771 second margin of victory.

Logano earned first win of the season and 28th of his Cup career, making him the tenth different winner in 2022 only 13 races in to the 36-race season.

"Man, super proud of the Shell-Pennzoil team, getting a victory here in Darlington. You know what it's like — I've never won here in a Cup race before," Logano told FS1 reporter Jamie Little. "So proud of this race team. Great execution all day long. I'll tell you what, the coolest thing is getting this car into Victory Lane. 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."

The Cup Series' 293-lap "Goodyear 400" took three hours, 21 minutes and 32 seconds to complete having its share of excitement before the race even started.

NASCAR legend Bill Elliott gave the command to start engines and Richard Petty waved the green flag to start the race.

The throwback theme did not stop there, as FS1 had Richard Petty in stage one, Bobby Labonte in stage two and Bill Elliott in stage three, helping announce the race in the booth with Mike Joy and Clint Boyer.

There was action all race long leading up to the race-winning "bump and run" Logano gave William Byron (24).

The racers saw the caution flag nine times for 47 laps, including a lap 262 wreck that involved nine cars (9, 11, 12, 14, 19, 23, 41, 43, 45) coming out of turn two on to the back stretch.

Also, the race ended up with 24 lead changes between 13 drivers with an average race speed of 119.158 mph.

Saturday afternoon, the Xfinity Series took to the track for their 147-lap "Mahindra ROXOR 200" which took one hour, 51 minutes and 59 seconds to complete at an average race speed of 107.589 mph.

Justin Allgaier (7) brought home the trophy with a 0.259 margin of victory in a Dale Earnhardt Sr. throwback paint scheme with current Hellmann's Mayonnaise sponsor on board.

The NXS had the yellow flag eight times for 33 laps of caution, along with 13 lead changes among six drivers.

"This team right here — the pit stops today were killing it," Allgaier said to Jamie Little of FS1. "They were awesome. This Hellman's Camaro was so fast. Just a testament to the 7 guys, but everybody at JR Motorsports — they've been working so hard. It's showing with our finishes, not just our 7 team, but all of us."

Allgaier continued "We've been doing this way too long, and you know how great it feels to get back to Victory Lane. ... And by the way, it was awesome racing my teammates. That was probably the coolest part, racing my teammates all day, so hats off to those guys."

After the rain stopped on Friday evening, the Camping World Truck Series lined up for their 149-lap "Dead on Tools 200" that took two hours, 13 minutes and 17 seconds to complete at an average race speed of 91.625 mph.

John Hunter Nemechek (4) won with a 0.552 second margin of victory over second place Carson Hocevar (42).

The race had 10 cautions for 54 laps with an overtime finish, along with 16 lead changes between nine drivers.

"Just a huge shoutout to all the guys that work on this No. 4 KBM Toyota Tundra," Nemechek told FS1's Jamie Little after his burnout on the front stretch. "I thought we gave it away early, honestly, and we were able to rebound and battle back. I learned a lot tonight. I was finally able to bring home the first win of the year."

During the TV interview on the front stretch Friday night, a full can of beer — thrown from the grandstands — nearly hit the driver and reporter.

Little tweeted Monday: "I hear many of you on SiriusXM NASCAR talking about the person who threw the beer during my interview with John H Nemechek... I was told security did find the man responsible."