Richmond, Arkansas – Joey Logano’s late-season turnaround continued Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, where the Team Penske driver held off Chase Briscoe by less than half a second to win the NASCAR Cup Series race and strengthen his position in the championship picture.
Logano drove his No. 22 Ford to a 0.392-second victory over Briscoe in the 400-lap race. The win was the 39th of Logano’s Cup Series career, his third at Richmond and his second victory in the past four races.
It was also another sign that the three-time Cup Series champion may be finding his form at exactly the right time. After dropping as low as 20th in the standings around the halfway point of the season, Logano has climbed to ninth and is now firmly back in the championship conversation.
“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.”
The timing of Logano’s resurgence is especially notable. Only two races remain before the NASCAR Chase, which features the top 16 drivers in the championship battle. His recent results have changed the outlook considerably. Before this stretch, Logano had managed only one victory in his previous 56 starts. Now he has won twice in four races.
That pattern has become familiar during Logano’s career. Since 2014, he has either won the Cup championship or reached the championship round in every even-numbered year. His previous title run also came with a late burst, as he won three of the final 10 races during that campaign.
“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.”
Saturday’s victory was particularly satisfying because of Logano’s history at Richmond. He had already won twice at the track, but his previous Richmond victory came nine years ago. This time, he finally managed to turn a strong car into a win after coming close in recent visits.
“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.”
The deciding moments came late in the race and were heavily influenced by strategy. Logano took the lead from Briscoe with 39 laps remaining, and Wolfe then brought him to pit road shortly afterward. The move allowed Logano to get fresh tires while Christopher Bell attempted a different approach.
Bell stayed out and tried to make his tires last for the final 57 laps on Richmond’s abrasive surface. Logano needed just 15 laps after his stop to regain the lead from Bell, putting himself in position to control the closing laps.
Logano led 95 of the 400 laps, while Briscoe was out front for a race-high 171 laps. The official results confirmed Logano as the winner following post-race inspection.
For Briscoe, the night was a mixture of accomplishment and frustration. He entered the race with limited success at Richmond, having never finished better than 11th in nine previous starts at the track. After qualifying second, he immediately passed pole-sitter Ryan Blaney and led the opening lap, the first lap of his career at the 0.75-mile oval.
Briscoe ultimately had one of the strongest cars in the field and led more laps than anyone else. But he could not complete the job after Logano’s late charge.
“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, giving Team Penske two drivers on the podium. The result was Cindric’s best finish since his April 2025 victory at Talladega Superspeedway.
Cindric said Logano’s knowledge of Richmond had been valuable to him throughout the weekend.
“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 finished fourth, while Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. Elliott’s result marked his first top-five finish since his victory at Texas Motor Speedway three months ago.
For Hamlin, Richmond’s weekend carried a deeper meaning beyond the race itself. The driver grew up roughly 20 minutes from the track, and Friday brought an emotional tribute to his family. Richmond Raceway dedicated the grandstand seats where Hamlin’s parents had watched NASCAR races for years.
Hamlin’s father, Dennis, died in a house fire last December. The dedication became one of the most personal moments of a homecoming weekend for the 64-time Cup Series winner.
“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.”
Away from the championship fight, another NASCAR topic drew attention during the Richmond weekend. Ty Gibbs recently appeared on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast and suggested that NASCAR consider removing the digital rearview camera that has been used in the Cup Series for four years.
Gibbs argued that the technology can make blocking easier because drivers can anticipate an opponent’s move. He said he had not received a response from NASCAR but hoped the subject might be considered during 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.”
Richmond also recorded another strong attendance mark. The track announced that its grandstands were sold out for the second straight year, making it the 11th Cup Series race to sell out in 2026.
Richmond’s current seating capacity is roughly half of what it was at its peak in the mid-2000s, when the facility could accommodate about 112,000 fans. Even with the smaller capacity, the consecutive sellouts show continued interest in the race at the Virginia track.
Now the Cup Series moves toward the final races before the championship battle. The next stop is New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Aug. 23 for a 301-lap race around the 1.058-mile oval. Ryan Blaney is the defending winner there.
For Logano, the trip to New Hampshire comes with renewed momentum. A driver who once looked like an outsider in the championship picture is suddenly one of the names his rivals have to watch closely.
Two wins in four races, a ninth-place position in the standings and another Richmond victory have changed the conversation around the No. 22 team. Logano’s warning after Saturday’s race was delivered with a smile, but the message was clear: his season may be heating up at precisely the wrong time for everyone else.
