(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR)
From the sunny skies of California to the cloudy, gloomy skies of New Hampshire, the drivers headed east to the miracle mile.
Check out the list of winners and losers.
Winners
Joey Logano
Well, it took only 16 races for Joey Logano to find victory circle.A great call and Mother Nature were both factors.
With weather all around them, Logano stayed out as long as he could. When NASCAR called a caution, crew chief Greg Zipadelli told Logano to save fuel.
Logano had a tough day before the final call, having a cut tire forcing them to pit. In the end that cut tire might have been his best friend.
Logano will have many, many more wins in this series, and this is a major confidence boost for a team that is still learning, still gelling.
The call was gutsy, and that’s what it is going to take to win races in this series.
Congrats to Logano and his whole team on his first career Sprint Cup win.
Logano: 21st
Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon was in the catbird seat, wishing that the rain would come and hoping Logano would run out of fuel.
The rain did come, but Logano earned the victory.
Gordon ran up front all day long, swapping the lead multiple times on restarts but always staying near or at the front.
A stellar pit stop under green earned them what turned out to be a second place finish.
It is runs like this that a team can build on.
This strong run could jump start the 24 crew, and that’s bad news for the rest of the field—all the tracks coming up are Gordon’s bread and butter.
Points: Second
Sam Hornish Jr.
You know, I thought earlier in the year when Sam Hornish Jr. had such great runs it would have been something to build on.
Instead, the team started sliding backwards and seemed to go back to their old ways.
On Sunday, Hornish ran well within the top 10 and was able to keep track position with strong pit stops. They were as high as fourth at one point. They had to settle for an eighth place finish.
A great run for a team that could use it.
We keep thinking that the light has turned on for this team, but they are about as up and down as a roller coaster.
This week they were up.
Points: 25th
Casey Mears
I said it a few weeks back.For Casey Mears, the crew chief switch has benefited him the most.
Mears played the rain all day long, but they didn’t need luck.They ran well all day long.
11th place is a strong finish.
This team had a good car in practice, and they were able to build on that throughout the race. Mears was involved in the big one and came back to rebound.A great sign for this team.
Mears seems to get so close to breaking through, let’s see if he can continue this next week at Daytona.
Points: 20th
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
With the field being set by points for Sunday’s race, it didn’t look good for this team. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team were not very good all weekend.
When the green flag waved, Earnhardt and his team went to work.
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