Joey Logano ends 9-year NASCAR drought at Richmond with thrilling late-race win over Chase Briscoe

Joey Logano finally broke through at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night, ending a nine-year winless stretch at the 0.75-mile oval with a hard-fought victory. The Team Penske driver held off a determined late charge from Chase Briscoe to win by just 0.392 seconds, scoring his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series triumph.

After the race, Logano made his intentions clear to the rest of the field. "Don't let the boys get hot," the three-time Cup Series champion said. "We're pretty strong right now. It's awesome to see the speed in the 22 again."

Strong car delivers long-awaited redemption

Joey Logano had shown strong speed at Richmond in recent years but could never quite close the deal. That changed on Saturday. "Gosh, it was a great car," he said. "We've had a great car here the last five races, and we haven't been able to capitalize on the win. We've been so close, but it was sweet redemption today."

The win was his third at the track and first since 2017. Crew chief Paul Wolfe made a key call late in the race, bringing Logano in for fresh tires just after he took the lead from Briscoe with 39 laps remaining. Logano then needed only 15 laps to reclaim the top spot from Christopher Bell, who was trying to stretch his tires on the abrasive surface over the final 57 laps.

Climbing the standings at the right time

The victory continues a strong second-half surge for Logano. After dropping as low as 20th in the points midway through the season, he has now won two of the past four races. That recent form has lifted him to ninth in the standings with just two races left before the NASCAR Chase begins.

Since 2014, Logano has either won the championship or reached the final four in every even-numbered year. His latest title run featured three wins in the final 10 races. Wolfe noted the familiar pattern. "We've seen it a lot over the years once he gets that confidence," the crew chief said. "He's very good under pressure situations."

Briscoe comes up just short after strong night

Chase Briscoe led a race-high 171 of the 400 laps and looked like a serious contender all night. After starting second, he passed pole-sitter Ryan Blaney on the opening lap to lead for the first time in his career at Richmond. Yet he still left without the win.

"This place has been a real struggle to me," Briscoe said. “To get close and not get it done is so frustrating. We had a great points night, but just frustrating to say the least to have one slip away like that at the end.”

The near-miss still carried value. Briscoe clinched a Chase berth with his sixth top-10 finish in the past seven races. Austin Cindric finished third and credited Logano’s advice for helping him post his best result since winning at Talladega in April 2025. "This is a racetrack that I feel like Joey Logano could finish top five in my rental car," Cindric said. "It's a place where I study him so much."

Denny Hamlin took fourth, with Chase Elliott rounding out the top five for his first such finish since winning at Texas three months earlier.