What Happened?
Joey Logano picked up his second NASCAR Cup Series win in the last four races after he took the checkered flag on Saturday (August 15) night at Richmond Raceway.
Logano was able to hold the lead late in the race over Chase Briscoe, who had to settle for second. Austin Cindric scored a season-best finish of third, points leader Denny Hamlin finished fourth, and Chase Elliott and scored his first top 10 since May in fifth.
Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, William Byron, and Alex Bowman finished in the sixth through 10th positions.
What Really Happened?
After his win at North Wilkesboro last month, I issued a warning that weekend while writing this column.
What were the first words out of Logano’s mouth after climbing from his winning race car?
It’s happening again. Dread it. Run from it. You can’t hide because “even year Logano” is back like he never left.
After the race at Sonoma Raceway at the end of June, Logano found himself 20th in points, and now, six races later, he has shot up to ninth in the standings on the cusp of clinching a spot in The Chase.
Logano kept himself in the game the whole night and was able to capitalize at Richmond as other contenders faded and as differing pit road strategies unfolded.
The Logano/Wolfe pairing are built for these moments, and they should be able to continue this hot stretch as we are heading to New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway before The Chase begins.
These are two tracks Logano and Team Penske show elite speed at, so how much further up the standings can Logano climb before the Southern 500?
I believe the sixth seed is definitely still in reach, maybe even the fifth seed, and that would put Logano in a phenomenal place to begin The Chase considering how his season was looking less than two months ago.
Imagine a world where Logano somehow pulls off the magic again and wins the title, the fourth of his career, after NASCAR finally ditched the playoff system just for him to win The Chase in its first year back.
We still have a long way to go, and I still feel like a Toyota driver is going to take home the big prize, but I’m just picturing the war zone that social media would be if that particular scenario actually played out that way.
Who Stood Out?
Team Penske as a whole showed up in a big way. Ryan Blaney won a stage from the pole and ran well until some braking problems took him out of the top 10 late in the race.
Cindric also looked stout and absolutely needed a run like that, as it puts him 57 points above the cut line and past Shane van Gisbergen, the new bubble driver in the standings.
I’ll also include Berry in this as well after he nabbed his third straight top-10 finish while continuing to audition for a ride next season. With his runs over the past four weeks, he definitely deserves to find a home for 2027.
Hendrick Motorsports had been in a rut as of late, and although they didn’t have winning speed, putting all four of their cars in the top 10 at a short track is something that should be highlighted.
Also, want to shout out Tyler Reddick for bouncing back after his early wreck at Iowa Speedway last week after getting some help from a timely caution during a pit cycle.
He stopped the bleeding with an 11th-place finish and remains within striking distance of Blaney and Ty Gibbs to try and get back up to the second seed.
Who Fell Flat?
Outside of Ross Chastain’s 12th place finish, no one on the wrong side of The Chase bubble really showed up tonight.
van Gisbergen has a 50-point cushion to Ryan Preece with only two races left, so it’s going be a tall task for anyone to point their way in with such little time remaining in the regular season.
Speaking of Preece, RFK Racing struggled as a whole again tonight, and all signs point to only one RFK car getting into The Chase.
Carson Hocevar entered last weekend’s race at Iowa sitting in fifth in points, which was the highest of any Chevrolet driver, but mechanical problems last week dropped the No. 77 team to eighth.
Then at Richmond, Hocevar showed a lack of speed right from the start and it all took a turn for the worst as he mis-shifted and blew up in the final stage.
With barely any incidents tonight, Hocever was the only car to DNF, and he finished dead last and fell down to 11th in the standings.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Richard Childress Racing continued to honor Kyle Busch this weekend with a special paint scheme on Austin Hill’s No. 33 car.
The usual Morgan & Morgan livery had a new look to the hood of the car, showcasing Busch’s iconic bow celebration along with his signature.
Hill finished the race in 23rd, two laps down.
What’s Next?
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is next up on the Cup Series schedule with only two races remaining before The Chase begins.
Coverage of the Dollar Tree 301, the 25th race of the season, will begin at 3 p.m. ET on USA. Blaney is the defending winner at the track.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.