Joey Logano showed Saturday night that his impressive performance at North Wilkesboro Speedway last month was no fluke.
The Ford driver stayed hot in Virginia’s capital and won for the second time in four starts, taking the checkers in the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Richmond Raceway short track in Richmond, Va.
The No. 22 Team Penske driver ran down Chase Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota over the final 37 laps after his final pit stop and earned his second win of 2026 by holding off Briscoe by 0.392 seconds.
His other victory was also on a short track in Cup racing’s return to North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 19.
It was Logano’s third career Richmond win and Ford’s fourth victory of 2026.
With the win, the three-time champion jumped to ninth in the standings, up from 20th six races ago.
“I think so,” Logano said when asked if his team was championship material. “We have a strong team, no doubt. … (Briscoe) was better than us on that last run. It was a fun back-and-forth battle with some different strategies out there.”
Briscoe led a race-high 171 laps and said he gave the race away with one bad run.
He did, however, claim his first top-10 finish at the D-shaped oval and lock in a spot in the postseason Chase.
“The prior run to the pit stop, I just lost brakes, got really, really loose and gave up a 3-second advantage. That was ultimately the difference,” the Indiana native said. ” … It’s weird to be mad running second here. This place has been a real struggle for me.
“Just to be that close and not get it done is still frustrating.”
Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott completed the top five.
The racing was tight at the start of 70-lap Stage 1 as polesitter Ryan Blaney took nine laps around the 3/4-mile facility until he was able to get away from Row 1 mate Briscoe, who was soon passed by Josh Berry in his final season in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.
After the first cycle of pit stops, Blaney regained the point, with Briscoe and Berry right behind. However, last week’s Iowa winner, Ty Gibbs, was nailed for speeding, and his No. 54 Toyota was sent to the rear of the field, which also hampered him at North Wilkesboro.
Briscoe pressured Blaney on the final circuit of the segment, but the No. 12 Team Penske driver held the point as teammates Logano and Cindric followed in third and fourth. Berry was fifth.
Logano battled with Briscoe in the 160-lap Stage 2, but his No. 22 was strong enough, as it was at the short track in North Wilkesboro, to take the checkered flag and earn the maximum bonus for the segment win.
Five-time Richmond winner Hamlin trailed him, followed by Briscoe, Cindric and Blaney.
Briscoe asserted himself in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the final stage, pulling away by two seconds over Logano with nearly 75 circuits left, and the Camrys of Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick came to life.
Bell and Reddick stayed out ahead of Briscoe on older tires but had to pit with 58 laps remaining, turning the point over to Briscoe.
–Field Level Media
