For the very first time, a sold-out crowd in St. Louis got to see the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series do battle at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. And they got their money's worth, as two of the best put on a spirited race that ended in another spirited finish.
After the two raced for the lead and the win throughout the closing laps, a late-race caution forced Joey Logano and Kyle Busch to have to race each other for the victory in overtime. Logano was able to get the lead from Busch in Turn 2, withstand a slidejob attempt from Busch in Turn 3, and then drive away to win the Enjoy Illinois 300 and pick up his second win of the 2022 season.
Logano's victory makes him the fourth driver this season to win multiple races. In addition, he has now also won three inaugural races in the last two seasons -- his Gateway victory joins his 2021 win at Bristol Dirt as well as his win to start this season at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
In the final laps of regulation, Busch and Logano had been running nose to tail as Logano sought a way to get a nose under Busch on the exit of the corner. But their race for the win changed with four laps to go when Kevin Harvick suffered a brake failure entering Turn 3, pounding the outside wall and bringing out a caution to send the race to overtime.
Logano got a terrific launch on the ensuing restart, which allowed him to drive into Turn 1 on the inside of Busch and then slide up in front of him in Turn 2. The two ran side-by-side down the backstretch before Busch attempted to drive his car deeper into Turn 3 and slide back up the track in front of Logano. But Busch couldn't make it stick, allowing Logano to take the lead back and then drive away on the final lap.
"It doesn't get much better than that, racing for the lead with Kyle like that -- one of the best. It's a lot of fun crossing each other back and forth," Logano told Fox Sports. "I knew it was coming. Because I did it to him, I knew he was gonna do it to me. We were able to cross back and forth there a couple times in the last lap there.
"Good Shell Pennzoil Mustang for sure. Nice to get a few wins on the season here, start collecting those playoff points ... What a great car, though. Really fast, I kind of messed up in qualifying. (crew chief Paul Wolfe) made a great call putting two tires on, Blaney did a great job with the push down into [Turn 1], which kept me close at least to be able to make the move. Good racing there."
Logano and Busch's race for the win was not the only major takeaway from Gateway, as a couple of other drivers also commanded everyone's attention.
Ross Chastain continued his breakout season with another top 10 finish, as he came home eighth at the checkered flag. But his path there was an eventful one, as his aggressive streak ended up earning him the ire of not just one, but two of NASCAR's biggest stars.
While racing Denny Hamlin for position early in stage two, Chastain sailed his car into the apex of Turns 1 and 2, hitting Hamlin from behind and sending Hamlin hard into the outside wall. Although the ensuing damage to Hamlin's toe link put him many laps down, Hamlin proceeded to make life very difficult for Chastain the rest of the race. He impeded Chastain's progress at every opportunity, running him down into the infield, taking side swipes at him, and also deliberately running his line to hold him up.
Chastain's problems with other drivers didn't end there, as Chase Elliott also took issue with Chastain's driving. On a restart later in the race, Chastain spun Elliott off turn four to trigger a three-car crash, and Elliott would end up paying the favor back by giving Chastain a shot in the bumper on the ensuing restart.
While Chastain was able to finish the day with a good result, he lamented his aggression and debased himself in a post-race interview.
"Just terrible driving. It's one thing to do it once, but I just kept driving into guys," Chastain told Fox Sports. "At this level, I'm supposed to be better than that ... I have all these people believing in me, Justin Marks and Pitbull put me in this car, they deserve better.
"I owe half the field an apology. Words aren't gonna fix it, so I'll have to pay for it on the track. Almost did today. And I deserve everything that they do -- I can't believe that I continue to make the same mistakes and overdrive the corners and drive into guys."
Speaking for himself, Hamlin maintained his composure in post-race in regards to Chastain, but offered words of warning as to what awaits him in the weeks to come.
"It's good he takes responsibility, but ultimately it ruined our day," Hamlin told Fox Sports. "I think we were kind of racing hard there for awhile on the inside. He tried to keep sliding up in front of us and wasn't able to because I wasn't willing to just back off and let him slide up in front. It didn't take long after he tucked in behind us to wreck us.
"The unfortunate part is it didn't look like he got too shy after that, because I think he got the No. 9 after that one. We all have learned the hard way, and we've all had it come back around on us. It'll be no different [for Chastain]."
Elliott ended up finishing 21st following his incident with Chastain, while Hamlin puttered home 11 laps down in 34th, the last car running.
Road course racing is back on the docket for the NASCAR Cup Series, which heads to Sonoma Raceway next Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
Joey Logano drives away from Kyle Busch, and he'll become the very first driver to win a Cup race at Gateway!
1 - #22 - Joey Logano
2 - #18 - Kyle Busch
3 - #45 - Kurt Busch
4 - #12 - Ryan Blaney
5 - #10 - Aric Almirola
6 - #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
7 - #43 - Erik Jones
8 - #1 - Ross Chastain
9 - #20 - Christopher Bell
10 - #16 - A.J. Allmendinger
Green flag and Kyle Busch gets a great launch -- But Joey gets a better one! Logano pulls the crossover move and takes the lead! Side-by-side down the backstretch and Busch drives it off into Turn 3!
He can't make it stick and Logano gets the lead back! White flag!
Choose zone for overtime. Kyle Busch takes the top, Logano takes the bottom. That puts both Penske cars on the bottom, as Blaney will restart third behind him.
Something broke on Kevin Harvick's car entering Turn 3 and he took a pretty solid shot into the outside wall at speed. Harvick climbed out of his car pretty gingerly.
There goes the race for the lead: Kevin Harvick hard in the wall in Turn 3 and the yellow is out again.
Logano gets loose on the entry to Turn One and loses some ground, but he gathers it back up and now sets his sights on Busch again. Four to go.
Logano is looking and keeps looking, but he just can't get the drive up off the corner on the bottom. Busch is able to get the better run off with the line he's running. Five to go this time.
Busch and Logano have put a touch of distance between themselves and Blaney. But if those two get side-by-side, that'll bring Blaney right into it.
Kyle Busch gets a touch loose off Turn 2. That allows Logano to get closer, but he can't get the nose under Busch in 3 and 4. 9 laps to go.
Busch, Logano, and Blaney separate themselves from the rest of the field. Half a second separating the three leaders. Busch is running the high line to try and get momentum off the corner, while Logano runs down low to get a nose under Busch.
Logano's going to have to deal with Blaney soon as well. Coming to 10 to go.
Green flag with 13 laps to go. Kyle Busch drives it hard into Turn 1 on the outside, and he takes the lead back off Turn 2!
Joey Logano takes the inside with Aric Almirola at the choose zone. Kyle Busch goes to the outside with Ryan Blaney behind him.
Watch out for the launch Almirola gets on this restart. If he can get a good launch and some momentum, we might see a divebomb into Turn 1 on the two leaders.
Leaders will stay out under this caution. Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley, and William Byron -- all outside the Top 20 -- come to the pits.
Custer got sent around off the bumper of Todd Gilliland. Custer isn't happy about it over the radio.
Another tough break for Custer, who was running in the Top 10 late in the Coke 600 before getting taken out in a crash in overtime.
