BRISTOL, Tenn. — The difference between a trip to the infield care center and victory lane is razor-thin, something that three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano experienced on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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He came within inches of being collateral damage in a wreck involving teammate Ryan Blaney, yet he skirted through and continued in the race. This set him up to avoid another incident between drivers and steal a win from a rival manufacturer.
"It kind of came full circle from last week (at Gateway) when you feel like you got beat at the end and not much you can do about it, and this time they all just kind of cleared the way and the seas parted for me and around I went," Logano said in response to FanBuzz.
Additional angles of the incident involving @CarsonHocevar and @Blaney. pic.twitter.com/VoW3asW8vI
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 20, 2026
The first incident occurred on Lap 458 as Blaney and Carson Hocevar raced for position. Blaney cleared Hocevar exiting the corner, but Hocevar attempted to do a crossover move. It appeared that Blaney also moved down in an attempt to block.
Hocevar did not lift, so he hit and spun Blaney into the wall. This later led to a fist fight on pit road between the two drivers.
Logano happened to be just behind this incident, which put him in danger of wrecking. However, he squeaked through the small space between Blaney and the outside wall.
"When I seen Blaney spin I was already committed into the corner, so I couldn't — Coleman (Pressley, spotter) was yelling at me, 'Get down, get down, get down.'
"I'm like, I've already sent it way too deep in here to turn it to the left anymore. I was just watching him. I mean everybody know Bristol is it's self-cleaning, so I assumed he's come back down. Just had to be patient and wait for it."
This patience paid off as Logano avoided being collected in a crash. He continued in the race.
The second incident occurred with seven laps remaining in the short track race. Although this did not bring out the caution. Logano just saw some potential chaos unfolding in front of him, so he took advantage.
Hocevar and Ty Gibbs raced side-by-side around the track, fighting for the lead and the clean air. They made contact as Gibbs wiggled. This helped Hocevar clear for the lead, and it brought Kyle Larson into the fight.
Where did @joeylogano come from?! pic.twitter.com/ATgdlTKBQi
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 20, 2026
The three drivers formed a triangle with Hocevar in the front, Larson behind in the outside lane, and Gibbs next to Larson in the middle lane. They all slammed into each other next to the outside wall, leaving plenty of empty space on the bottom of the track.
Logano did not waste any time. He passed all three drivers in one fell swoop, and he took the lead. He pulled away from the trio and led the final seven laps of the race.
"In this case, I seen they were two wide for the lead," he explained. "Larson looked like he was — I thought he was going to go to the bottom and then he went up. I was like, 'Okay, I'll just do the opposite, I'll go to the bottom. Hopefully they wash each other out,' and that's exactly what happened. Just rolled underneath him.
"So like I said, it kind of came full circle from last week when you feel like you got beat at the end and not much you can do about it, and this time they all just kind of cleared the way and the seas parted for me and around I went.
"It honestly is kind of flashbacks to Richmond years ago (in 2014) when Brad (Keselowski) and (Matt) Kenseth were going at it and Jeff Gordon was in the mix and they all kind of went up the track and I was like, thanks, kind of rolled the bottom. It felt a lot like that."
The three-time champion scored his third win of the season, and he continued his improbable run through the Chase. He moved to third in the standings and only 17 points back of Larson, who took the lead from Denny Hamlin.
Logano pulled off this win on the night that he became a record-setter for Team Penske. He set a new mark for the most Cup Starts made for the team (497), and he set a new mark for the most Cup Series wins by a Team Penske driver (38). He took both records from Rusty Wallace.
But while these records are both "cool," they actually became less of a storyline for Logano. The bigger victory for him on Saturday night is that he proved his son wrong.
"What I'm most excited about is my son Hudson back there," Logano said. "He was talking crap to me on the way up here in the van saying I've never won on the concrete. Well, I have. He just wasn't alive. So how about that now, homie?"
