By NATE RYAN Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Joey Logano delivered a warning to his NASCAR rivals after his victory Saturday night at Richmond Raceway.
“Don’t let the boys get hot,” the driver of Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford said after fending off a late charge by Chase Briscoe to earn his 39th career win by 0.392 seconds. “We’re pretty strong right now. It’s awesome to see the speed in the 22 again.”
After falling as low as 20th in the points standings at the season’s halfway mark, the three-time Cup Series champion is surging toward the NASCAR Chase. Two races remain until the title run featuring the top 16 drivers.
With two victories in the past four races (after only one win in his previous 56 starts), Logano has jumped to ninth in the points standings and established himself as a championship contender again.
It’s no surprise given that it’s the 2026 season. Since 2014, Logano has either won the Cup title or advanced to the championship round in every even-numbered year, and he typically does it with a late-season spree. In his last title run, the 36-year-old won three of the final 10 races.
“We’ve seen it a lot over the years once he gets that confidence,” crew chief Paul Wolfe said. “He’s very good under pressure situations.”
Logano scored his third Richmond win Saturday but his first in nine years at the track.
“Gosh, it was a great car,” he said. “We’ve had a great car here the last five races, and we haven’t been able to capitalize on the win. We’ve been so close, but it was sweet redemption today.”
Logano capitalized on the final strategy call by Wolfe, who pitted his driver just after taking the lead from Briscoe with 39 laps remaining. Logano needed only 15 laps to retake the lead from Christopher Bell, who was trying to stretch his tires to the finish on Richmond’s abrasive surface over the last 57 laps.
Briscoe led a race-high 171 of 400 laps. He had a best finish of 11th in nine previous starts at Richmond, one of only three active tracks where he had yet to score a top 10. After qualifying second, he passed pole-sitter Ryan Blaney on the first lap to lead the first lap of his career on the 0.75-mile oval.
“This place has been a real struggle to me,” said Briscoe, who clinched a spot in the Chase with his sixth top 10 in the past seven races. “To get close and not get it done is so frustrating. We had a great points night, but just frustrating to say the least to have one slip away like that at the end.”
Austin Cindric finished third and credited his teammate Logano with providing the advice that helped him score his best result since an April 2025 win at Talladega Superspeedway.
“This is a racetrack that I feel like Joey Logano could finish top five in my rental car,” said Cindric, who. “It’s a place where I study him so much.”
Denny Hamlin took fourth, followed by Chase Elliott, who notched his first top five since winning at Texas Motor Speedway three months ago.
Hamlin family dedication
In an emotional ceremony Friday morning, Richmond Raceway dedicated the grandstand seats where Hamlin’s parents sat for years watching NASCAR races long before their son became a 64-time winner in the Cup Series. Hamlin’s father, Dennis, died in a house fire last December.
The track’s tribute was among the highlights of a homecoming weekend for Hamlin, who grew up about 20 minutes from the track.
“It’s really the time I get to see my brother and sister that still live up here,” said Hamlin, who lives in the Charlotte, N.C., area. “I’ve got lots of high school friends that have their own campsite here. It will be amazing if they don’t get arrested.”
Mirror driving
In an appearance on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast this week, Ty Gibbs lobbied for removing the digital rearview camera that NASCAR implemented four years ago. Gibbs joked that some Cup drivers would be out of the series without the high-tech device that makes blocking easier by anticipating an opponent’s move. He’s gotten no feedback from NASCAR but hopes a change could be made in the offseason.
“I didn’t hear anything on it, but I thought I’d recommend it,” Gibbs said. “I just think everybody probably agrees to it, too. I mean, a lot of people do, so I thought I’d say it. I think it could happen. They took windshield wipers off, and we run in the rain still, so I think it could happen.”
Another sellout
Richmond Raceway announced its grandstands were full for the second consecutive year, marking the 11th sellout in 24 Cup Series races this season. Many of those tracks have reduced seating capacities in the past 15 years, and Richmond is among the most notable. The track’s capacity is roughly half of its 112,000-seat peak in the mid-2000s.
Up next
The NASCAR Cup Series will make its annual stop at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a 301-lap race Aug. 23 at the 1.058-mile oval. Ryan Blaney is the defending race winner at the track.
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