By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
If somebody was going to beat Kyle Busch Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, it was going to be a Team Penske machine. Specifically, Joey Logano, who was leading when Busch made the race-winning pass with 26 laps to go.
Running consistently in the top five throughout the Auto Club 400, Logano improved on his No. 22 Ford just enough to have a shot at battling teammate Brad Keselowski for the lead… and then that green machine came into the picture.
“[Brad and I] only raced for about two laps before the No. 18 blew our doors off,” Logano said of Busch. “The fastest car won the race. We just didn’t have
Indeed, Busch was the man in charge, leading 134 of 200 laps, winning both stages and even coming from the rear following a speeding penalty to pass Logano for the win.
Before Busch pounced, it was yet another battle between Penske’s Logano and Keselowski, who traded the top spot following the race’s final restart with 31 to go.
“We were racing hard and no matter who got to the lead, the 18 was going to pass us,” he said. “He was the best car today. We have some work to do to get faster but the team did a great job today.”
Winning two weeks back at Las Vegas, Logano has now three top-five finishes through the opening five races of 2019. Scoring his fourth straight top five at Auto Club, it was also his best through 13 career starts.
“We held strong today with the Auto Club Mustang,” he said. “You want to win at the home track of your sponsor. We gave it a solid run. We have a lot of momentum on this race team right now.”
But as they say, second place sucks.
“I hate being that close,” he said. “The last few laps you are running up against the wall and [Busch] had a big enough lead to cruise a little. You are just hoping a lapped car gets in the way or something.”