BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Joey Logano led the final seven laps Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway after seizing the lead from Carson Hocevar, who overshadowed the winner despite finishing third.
Hocevar, a brash 23-year-old who has earned the ire of veterans with his aggressive driving, traded punches in the pits with Ryan Blaney after they were involved in an incident while racing for second with 41 laps left where Hocevar wrecked Blaney's car from
behind.
Hocevar stopped his car after finishing third and was greeted by a shove from Blaney. Hocevar responded by swinging twice at Blaney, who fell to the pavement, got up and threw a punch at Hocevar before they were separated by their crews.
Logano started from the pole position and led 93 laps to move into third place in the points standings.
Kyle Larson finished second to move into the Chase lead by a point over Denny Hamlin.
Christopher Bell was fourth, followed by Ty Gibbs, who led 120 laps before finishing fifth.
Gibbs was driving a No. 54 Toyota that sported a paint scheme honoring the late Kyle Busch, who had a record 23 wins in NASCAR national series at Bristol.
It was among multiple tributes to the Richard Childress Racing driver who died in May.
Fans waved yellow towels on the 18th lap in honor of Busch, who won two Cup Series championships in the No. 18 Toyota. His widow, Samantha, addressed the crowd before the race.
“Bristol was always so special to Kyle,” Samantha Busch said. “He loved racing under the lights, the energy of this place, and most of all, the fans. For 20 years, this sport was our life. It’s where we raised our babies and made some of our very best memories. I never imagined we’d be standing here without him. But looking out at all of you reminds me that we aren’t walking this alone.”
In its federal lawsuit that accuses Spire Motorsports of cheating by using stolen intellectual property, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a motion Thursday claiming that Spire and chief motorsports officer Chris Gabehart violated a temporary restraining order and should be held in contempt. A federal judge ruled in March that Gabehart can work for Spire but not in the competition director role he was in while with Joe Gibbs Racing last season.
Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson responded to the motion in a statement Friday night. “JGR does not get to control what other race teams do through court cases,” Dickerson said. “JGR does not own tire pressures, JGR does not own the people who work in this industry, and JGR does not own Spire. Spire looks forward to responding to JGR’s motion in court. To be clear, months of discovery have shown that Spire Motorsports has done nothing wrong.”
The NASCAR Cup Series will begin a stretch of three consecutive races on 1.5-mile ovals with Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 27. Tyler Reddick won the April 19 race at the track in Kansas City, Kansas.
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