NASCAR at Kansas 2014 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

While some of the superstars in NASCAR fell off the pace early in Sunday's Sprint Cup Hollywood Casino 400, Joey Logano stayed strong when it mattered most.    

Logano took home the victory in dominating fashion, especially considering he led for 122 laps and was clearly the best driver in the field.     

NASCAR congratulated the 24-year-old youngster, while Jeff Gluck of USA Today and NASCAR on ESPN pointed out that Logano took plenty of pressure off himself moving forward with his critical victory:

"

Joey Logano wins at Kansas. He's now locked into the Eliminator Round of the Chase!

— NASCAR on ESPN (@ESPNNASCAR) October 5, 2014"

Here is a look at the top 10 finishers from Sunday's race and the updated standings:

Place	Name	Time Behind Leader	Laps Led
1	Joey Logano	--	122
2	Kyle Larson	.480	0
3	Kyle Busch	6.424	1
4	Martin Truex Jr.	6.973	0
5	Carl Edwards	12.413	0
6	Ryan Newman	12.899	6
7	Denny Hamlin	14.183	0
8	Austin Dillon	14.319	0
9	Paul Menard	15.637	0
10	Brian Vickers	18.051	0

Place	Driver	Points
1	Joey Logano	3,048
2	Kyle Busch	3,042
3	Carl Edwards	3,039
4	Ryan Newman	3,039
5	Denny Hamlin	3,037
6	Kevin Harvick	3,033
7	Matt Kenseth	3,031
8	Jeff Gordon	3,031

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Logano has put together an impressive stretch this year. He won the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sylvania 300 and the Bristol Motor Speedway Irwin Tools Night Race. He also has five straight top-10 finishes and four straight top-five finishes. His victory in Kansas only adds to the list, and the rest of NASCAR has certainly taken notice.

Of course, being at the top of the standings will do that for you.

While Logano took home the victory, it wasn’t the best day for some of NASCAR’s biggest names. Tom Jensen of FoxSports.com pointed out that Jeff Gordon had some early issues:

However, one of the more notable moments of Sunday’s race was when Jimmie Johnson wrecked. Fox Sports: NASCAR, NASCAR and Lowes Racing provided some updates in the aftermath of the accident:

Johnson provided a comment (via NASCAR on ESPN) before the race that his team needs some wins. He didn’t get one on Sunday:

"

Jimmie: "We'll do our best to get on track and, certainly, we'll need (wins)." Points out other Chasers could still have trouble today.

— NASCAR on ESPN (@ESPNNASCAR) October 5, 2014"

Still, he did return in the middle of the race, as Fox Sports: NASCAR pointed out:

Johnson commented on the incident in an interview with ESPN during the race (via NASCAR.com):

"

It just means we've got to be on our game at Charlotte and Talladega. And there's still a lot of racing left. This stuff can happen so we'll see how the other Chasers fare. If I can get taken out today, somebody else can later in this event or at Charlotte so we'll do our best to get back on track and then certainly need W's I would assume moving forward.

"

As Kansas Speedway noted, Kurt Busch also joined the list of big-name racers who simply struggled to get anything going Sunday. NASCAR on ESPN highlighted the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed as well:

"

Jr. hits the wall hard while leading; car has major damage to the right side. He's going to the garage after losing a tire and hitting wall.

— NASCAR on ESPN (@ESPNNASCAR) October 5, 2014"

As for the actual race, Kevin Harvick jumped out to an early lead but was challenged in the initial laps. Fox Sports: NASCAR and Kansas Speedway provided some of the updates:

Logano and Kyle Larson got in on the action in the second half of the race. Both were battling tightly, and Motor Racing Network described some of the action:

While Logano and Larson finished in the top two positions, Harvick got in on some of the action at the top of the leaderboard. Harvick actually led for 61 laps, which was second-most behind only Logano, and took the lead in the middle laps, as noted by Fox Sports: NASCAR:

From there, it was a battle between Harvick, Logano and Larson. However, Harvick fell off the pace, which led to the two-man finish.

Kansas Speedway set the stage for the exciting finish:

Logano won the race, and the most important part of that moving forward is the fact that he no longer has to worry about making it into the Eliminator Round. Logano should also have plenty of momentum on his side after Sunday's victory, especially since he was able to hold off charges from both Harvick and Larson.

Whether Logano can capitalize on the momentum and keep his hot streak intact remains to be seen, but he should be confident in his team and performance once the Eliminator Round begins.

Wins are what matter late in the season, and Logano picked up an important one Sunday.