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Joey Logano enthusiasts weren't pleased with the recent finish to the Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 race at Richmond Raceway where Denny Hamlin clinched his second victory of the season.
After a sloppy penalty-ridden race weekend in COTA, NASCAR was back in action at Richmond Raceway for short-track racing once again. As it happened to be, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, found himself steering to a dominant victory on Sunday.
Having led a race-high 228 laps out of 400, Truex was leading the pack heading into the closing stages. However, a late Kyle Larson spin brought out the caution flag and sent the race into overtime. A restart followed, where Truex's teammate Denny Hamlin pounced on the opportunity to steal the lead and drove himself to the 53rd Cup race victory of his career.
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Meanwhile, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano finished as runner-up ahead of Kyle Larson. A distraught MTJ settled for a fourth-place finish in Richmond.
While Denny Hamlin celebrated his victory, questions arose regarding the legitimacy of his methods, with Martin Truex Jr. himself raising concerns about Hamlin's restart tactics during a post-race interview with Fox Sports' Jamie Little. Truex accused Hamlin of jumping the restart, giving himself an advantage down the straight to beat Truex in the corner, sparking debate among fans and commentators alike.
Fans took to social media shortly after, trashing Hamlin's maneuver and empathising with the other drivers, particularly the runner-up, Joey Logano. Addressing the Team Penske driver, one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
"You won this race big time Hamlin cheated, you’re the real winner I hope they disqualify him and make you the winner"
Another user wrote:
"You won the race. Hamlin jumped the restart big time"
A third user commented:
"You gotta protest that finish he jumped the start like 5/10 yards"
Here are some more reactions to Joey Logano's second-place finish in Richmond:
Joey Logano reflects on runner-up finish at Richmond Raceway
Logano reflected on his second-place finish, acknowledging the mixed emotions of coming so close to victory yet falling short. The 33-year-old stated after the race (via NASCAR.com):
"It feels good, and it hurts at the same time because we were so close to winning the race. I mean, it’s a race track that we expect to run well at, it’s our best race track and we’ve been consistently in the top five and having shots to win."
Joey Logano also expressed optimism, recognizing the momentum gained from the strong performance at Richmond:
"I don’t know if this completely takes us out of the deep end, but I think ultimately it’s a good momentum-builder for sure."
Despite multiple pole victories, this was Joey Logano's first top 5 finish of the season. After seven races, the Team Penske driver has accumulated 149 points and finds himself 19th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
