CONCORD, N.C. — Joey Logano won an entertaining version of NASCAR’s annual All-Star race by snatching the lead away from Kyle Larson with two laps remaining Saturday night in the $1 million exhibition event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Larson raced his way into the main event earlier by beating Chase Elliott in a stirring last-lap door-to-door battle to the checkered flag. He then rocketed to the lead in the All-Star race by using four fresh tires to drive to the front on the restart of the final 13-lap segment.
Logano eventually caught him and Larson tried several times to hold him off, but as the two raced side-by-side, Larson smacked the wall and the damage took him out of contention.
Logano then cruised to the win ahead of Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, who suggested much of Saturday night’s format.
INDYCAR: James Hinchcliffe, a Canadian driver who nearly died last year from a leg injury sustained during practice for the Indianapolis 500, survived two challenges in the final 25 minutes of qualifying for this year’s race and barely held onto the top seed with a speed of 230.946 mph.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was second at 230.805 on the next-to-last run in the session. Team Penske’s Will Power came in third at 230.736.
The nine fastest drivers from Saturday will compete Sunday in a late afternoon pole shootout.
Russia’s Mikhail Aleshin bumping his way into the shootout on the final run of the day. Hinchcliffe and Aleshin are teammates with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Hunter-Reay made the top nine with a daring run that knocked out teammate Marco Andretti, just moments after Andretti had bumped out Hunter-Reay.
Another Andretti driver, Townsend Bell, led most of the afternoon, and his 230.452 and held up until three-time 500 champion Helio Castroneves of Brazil went 230.500. Then, after American Graham Rahal made his second attempt, Hinchcliffe drove onto the track and moved past Castroneves.
TRUCKS: Matt Crafton won his second consecutive Trucks Series race by a convincing margin over Kyle Busch at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
It’s the first time in his career Crafton has won back-to-back races.
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