Logano wins eighth Nationwide race of year at Charlotte

• Joey Logano earned his 17th career Nationwide Series victory
• Logano led 62 laps to win for the first time at Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Kevin Harvick finished second and Elliott Sadler finished third

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — It's hard to bet against Joey Logano these days when it comes to the Nationwide Series.

Logano raced to his eighth Nationwide Series victory of the year Friday night, passing Brad Keselowski with eight laps to go after taking on two tires and a splash of gas.

Logano led 62 laps en route to his 17th career victory and first at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He has made 18 series starts this season.

"I just had to adjust my style a little bit and get this little 20 car rocking and get these guys in victory lane one more time," Logano said.

Keselowski gambled by making a quick pit stop with nine laps left, but his pit crew didn't get enough fuel in his tank and he couldn't challenge for the lead. He finished 18th.

Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Nationwide Series point leader Elliott Sadler. Kyle Busch finished fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth in a competitive race that included 11 Sprint Cup regulars.

Austin Dillon, who entered the race third in the standings 25 points behind Sadler, finished sixth and is now 29 points behind. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brian Scott, James Buescher and Michael Annett rounded out the top 10.

Logano questioned his crew chief Adam Stevens about whether it was good idea for the No. 20 Toyota to take on two right side tires when he entered the pits with 15 laps to go.

That meant briefly giving up the lead.

"I should never question Adam Stevens," Logano said afterward. "He's given me great cars every single weekend. We worked really hard for this. The 22 car (Keselowski) was really good for most of the race."

Sadler came in with a nine-point lead over Stenhouse in the Nationwide Series standings. He expanded that edge to 13 after Stenhouse's seventh-place finish.

Sadler said he wanted to win but came away happy with the third-place finish.

"It was a good run and anytime you gain points, we're going to call it a good night," Sadler said.

The championship hopes of Sam Hornish Jr. and Justin Allgaier, who were fourth and fifth respectively in the Nationwide Series standings, took a hit when they crashed on lap 13.

Hornish's spotter, Chris Osborne, told him he'd cleared Allgaier, who was on the outside, when he hadn't. Hornish slid up the track and rammed Allgaier into the wall.

"I got cleared and he said, 'My bad,'" Hornish said. "It's unfortunate. It was a bad call that cost us tonight. But he doesn't make many mistakes so I'll forgive him. We all make mistakes."

With four Nationwide Series races left, Sadler is closing in on a championship.

But he views next week's race at Kansas as crucial.

"I think that is the wild card," Sadler said.

Danica Patrick finished 11th and was on the lead lap until the very end in one of her better efforts of the season.

****

Dollar General 300 results

Friday's results from Charlotte Motor Speedway:

1. (3) Joey Logano, Toyota, 200 laps, 135.7 rating, 0 points.

2. (5) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 122.8, 0.

3. (1) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200, 116.3, 42.

4. (6) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, 108.4, 0.

5. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200, 107.6, 0.

6. (2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, 102.8, 38.

7. (4) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 200, 115.1, 38.

8. (7) Brian Scott, Toyota, 200, 98.9, 37.

9. (18) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 200, 95.1, 0.

10. (13) Michael Annett, Ford, 200, 83.8, 34.

11. (11) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 199, 90.8, 33.

12. (29) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 199, 85.2, 32.

13. (19) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 199, 81.5, 31.

14. (22) Ryan Blaney, Chevrolet, 198, 83.7, 0.

15. (15) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 198, 85.1, 29.

16. (27) Jeff Green, Toyota, 198, 72.1, 28.

17. (33) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 198, 71.2, 28.

18. (9) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 198, 122.1, 0.

19. (17) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 198, 72.8, 25.

20. (41) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 196, 54, 24.

21. (38) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 196, 57.7, 23.

22. (25) Eric McClure, Toyota, 195, 54.1, 22.

23. (40) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 195, 54.5, 21.

24. (21) Kyle Fowler, Ford, 195, 63.7, 20.

25. (26) David Starr, Toyota, 195, 52.1, 0.

26. (24) Kevin Lepage, Ford, 195, 52.6, 18.

27. (28) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 194, 54.4, 17.

28. (20) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 194, 64, 16.

29. (23) Stanton Barrett, Ford, 193, 47.3, 15.

30. (42) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 193, 37.3, 0.

31. (39) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 191, 41.2, 13.

32. (12) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 186, 56.2, 0.

33. (32) Timmy Hill, Ford, 176, 50.4, 11.

34. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 166, 47.7, 10.

35. (10) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 104, 50.3, 9.

36. (14) Mike Bliss, Toyota, accident, 79, 72.9, 8.

37. (34) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, ignition, 19, 38.6, 7.

38. (30) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, vibration, 18, 39, 0.

39. (43) David Green, Chevrolet, rear gear, 16, 36.4, 5.

40. (37) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, suspension, 14, 34.1, 0.

41. (31) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, clutch, 14, 34.5, 0.

42. (36) Charles Lewandoski, Toyota, vibration, 12, 31.9, 2.

43. (35) Angela Cope, Toyota, accident, 0, 30.3, 1.

Race statistics

Average speed of race winner: 138.337 mph. Time of race: 2 hours, 10 minutes, 7 seconds. Margin of victory: 2.760 seconds. Caution flags: 5 for 25 laps. Lead changes: 21 among 9 drivers.

Lap leaders: E.Sadler 1-15; R.Stenhouse Jr. 16-42; K.Harvick 43; R.Stenhouse Jr. 44-50; K.Harvick 51-53; B.Keselowski 54; J.Logano 55-58; J.Nemechek 59-60; K.Harvick 61-71; B.Keselowski 72-84; D.Hamlin 85-87; J.Logano 88; D.Hamlin 89-95; J.Logano 96-99; B.Keselowski 100-133; J.Logano 134-154; K.Harvick 155-161; J.Logano 162-185; B.Keselowski 186-189; K.Busch 190-191; B.Scott 192; J.Logano 193-200.

Leaders summary (Driver, times led, Llaps led): J.Logano, 6 times for 62 laps; B.Keselowski, 4 times for 52 laps; R.Stenhouse Jr., 2 times for 34 laps; K.Harvick, 4 times for 22 laps; E.Sadler, 1 time for 15 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 10 laps; K.Busch, 1 time for 2 laps; J.Nemechek, 1 time for 2 laps; B.Scott, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: 1. E.Sadler, 1,096; 2. R.Stenhouse Jr., 1,083; 3. A.Dillon, 1,067; 4. S.Hornish Jr., 1,003; 5. M.Annett, 950; 6. J.Allgaier, 936; 7. C.Whitt, 874; 8. M.Bliss, 789; 9. B.Scott, 740; 10. D.Patrick, 708.