NBCSN presented NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Bristol Motor Speedway this evening. The twilight race at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” track concluded with Joey Logano securing his third win of the season and 11th Cup career win. Logano also won at Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2014. Friday’s pole winner Denny Hamlin stayed in the front of the pack, eventually crossing the finish line third.
Inside the NBCSN broadcast booth, race announcer Rick Allen and analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the action. Working the pits were NBCSN reporters Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Mike Massaro and Dave Burns.
| Position | Driver | Car # |
| 1 | Joey Logano | 22 |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 4 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| 4 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | 15 |
The following are highlights from tonight’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race coverage on NBCSN.
Burton on Clint Bowyer working the bottom of the race track: “How are you going to pass if everyone is running the top (of the track)? Clint Bowyer, with the No. 15, is making his way forward by going by people on the inside of the racetrack.”
Letarte on crew chief to driver communications: “Being a crew chief and a driver is really like a marriage. There are hard times in the marriage too, where you have to give your opinion. But those communication points perhaps are what can move these drivers into victory lane. But you have to be able to be friends when it is all over with.”
Burton on the changing track 250 laps in: “There is no doubt in my mind that the rubber on the track has gotten built up and now it is built up on top of itself. So when the cars are driving on this rubber in the upper lane the cars are sliding.”
Letarte on Martin Truex Jr.’s green flag pit stop: “He already lost two laps pitting on green. If you had to run the entire pit road, you might as well take it to your truck. If you have an issue on a green flag you are going to be four or five laps down just with one simple trip down pit road.”
Burton on the difficulty of “Thunder Valley”: “The thing I love about this race track is that having a fast race car is just part of the puzzle. You have to do everything right, and you can’t make mistakes. You have to run a clean race here.”
Letarte on daring not to pit under caution with just 75 laps to go: “It would be a gamble. But I don’t think it would be just throwing caution to the wind, it would be a calculated gamble with 70 laps to go.”
Burton on passing in congestion at the “Last Great Colosseum”: “Just because you catch somebody, doesn’t mean that is the time to pass them. You have to time your pass. You have to understand where their weakness is and where your strength is, and pass where it benefits you.”
Letarte on the different lines of Logano and Kevin Harvick: “Have you seen a battle with two cars running two dramatically different and complete approaches to the corner? Not just lines, but the No 22. bats the corner up and rolls in. The No. 4 flies down into the middle of the corner. It is like they are running almost two different race tracks.”
Burton on the final performance of Logano and Harvick: “It was so much fun watching them run different lines, both of them giving everything they had. There is nothing left, I can guarantee you that.”
Logano’s crew chief, Todd Gordon, to Burns on defending a win at Bristol: “We knew what we had to work on in practice. We didn’t have exactly the fastest race car. We knew what our balance needed to be, to be able to do what we did tonight.”
Race Winner Joey Logano to Stavast on his turn strategy: “He drove in so hard and I would drive out so hard. It was interesting to watch in the mirrors. I was watching him drive in thinking he was going to get me eventually. I just wanted to make sure I stayed at least three or car lengths up on him so he didn’t get to me.”
Runner up Kevin Harvick to Snider after the race: “All in all, I’m just really proud of my team. They showed the heart and determination that you have to have. This hasn’t been my favorite place and it still isn’t to drive.”
Third place finisher Denny Hamlin to Burns: “We just hung around all day. Not enough attrition for us to get in victory lane.”
Catch up on all of NBCSN’s NASCAR coverage from Bristol tomorrow at 11 p.m. ET with NASCAR Victory Lap.
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–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
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SOURCE: NBC Sports Group
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