Joey Logano celebrates after winning Saturday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images
Moonlighting in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Saturday night, Joey Logano performed the perfect Bristol Stomp in winning the race at the half-mile speedway.
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion swept the first two stages of the race at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track, led 138 of the 150 laps and crossed the finish line 1.241 seconds ahead of ThorsSport Racing teammate Ty Majeski.
“My fun meter was pegged tonight,” said Logano, who won the second Truck Series race of his career. “I had a lot of fun out here racing at Bristol. The dirt’s a lot of fun.
“Hopefully, tomorrow is just as good with the other car.”
Logano will start 12th in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at the half-mile track. He won the inaugural Cup Series dirt race at Bristol in 2021.
Majeski ran a strong second but was no match for his teammate.
“He’s a two-time Cup champion for a reason,” Majeski said. “Just happy we got ThorSport in victory lane. ThorSport deserves to be in victory lane — just wish it was us. Just one spot short.
“Overall, he was just better than us tonight. I thought maybe at times, if we would have had a long run, I might have been able to match him or at least make him nervous. Just wasn’t in the cards for us.”
Long runs were not the order of the day. The race was punctuated by 11 cautions for 64 laps, as trucks rubbed fenders, cut tires and spun on the slick clay surface with predictable frequency. Out front for virtually the entire race, Logano avoided the chaos behind him.
“They gave me a great race truck,” said Logano, who pressed Team Penkse teammate Ryan Blaney into service as his spotter. “We qualified good in the heat race and were able to drive to the lead pretty early in the race and were pretty much able to control it.
“I’m not sure we learned anything for (Sunday), because I didn’t get to race a whole bunch, but it was fun leading all those laps. I had a great spotter up there in Blaney. He kept me entertained and light-hearted and a (was) a whole lot of fun, too.”
William Byron, a two-time Cup winner this season, ran third. Matt Crafton was fourth, followed by Grant Enfinger, Monroe, Georgia’s Jake Garcia, Chase Briscoe, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Matt DiBenedetto.
Dirt late model ace Jonathan Davenport from Blairsville, Georgia finished 14th, one spot behind Hailie Deegan, who ran as high as third during the early stages of the race.
Majeski leads the series standings by 34 points over defending champion Zane Smith, who was collected in a three-truck accident on lap 95 and finished 21st.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN
Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt – April 8, 2023
1. (4) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 150.
2. (2) Ty Majeski, Ford, 150.
3. (14) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 150.
4. (8) Matt Crafton, Ford, 150.
5. (11) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 150.
6. (26) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 150.
7. (10) Chase Briscoe(i), Ford, 150.
8. (34) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 150.
9. (3) Kaden Honeycutt, Ford, 150.
10. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 150.
11. (15) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 150.
12. (29) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 150.
13. (6) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 150.
14. (25) Jonathan Davenport(i), Chevrolet, 150.
15. (12) Corey Heim, Toyota, 150.
16. (22) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 150.
17. (27) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 150.
18. (17) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 150.
19. (7) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 150.
20. (19) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 150.
21. (1) Zane Smith, Ford, 150.
22. (32) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 150.
23. (5) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 150.
24. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 150.
25. (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 148.
26. (31) Tanner Carrick, Toyota, 147.
27. (35) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 147.
28. (16) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 147.
29. (33) Tyler Carpenter, Chevrolet, Accident, 117.
30. (13) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, Accident, 96.
31. (21) Parker Kligerman(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 85.
32. (36) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 75.
33. (23) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, Accident, 25.
34. (9) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, Accident, 8.
35. (18) Mason Massey, Ford, Accident, 7.
36. (20) Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 7.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 39.301 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 54 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.241 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 64 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z. Smith 0;T. Majeski 1;J. Logano(i) 2-40;M. DiBenedetto 41-51;J. Logano(i) 52-150.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Joey Logano(i) 2 times for 138 laps; Matt DiBenedetto 1 time for 11 laps; Ty Majeski 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 66,98,51,04,88,13,23,38,52,75
Stage #2 Top Ten: 66,98,51,52,25,15,88,38,22,32
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 225 (2 Wins); 2. Christian Eckes – 194 (1 Win); 3. Carson Hocevar – 142 (1 Win); 4. Ty Majeski – 259; 5. Ben Rhodes – 212; 6. Matt Crafton – 198; 7. Grant Enfinger – 188; 8. Corey Heim – 170; 9. Tanner Gray – 156; 10. Matt DiBenedetto – 150.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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