Joey Logano wins the 2015 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

A week after seeing a potential win slip away when he ran out of fuel, Joey Logano was the beneficiary Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

Logano was running second to Kevin Harvick when the leader’s car began slowing two corners shy of the finish line in the Cheez-It 355. Harvick, the defending Sprint Cup champion, tried desperately to keep Logano behind him but it was to no avail, as Logano passed Harvick to the outside and motored away for his second win of the season.

Kyle Busch finished second, Harvick slid to third with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch completing the top five. Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Sam Hornish Jr. and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.

“I was running down Harvick there for a little bit and once I got close to him he started to pick up his pace a little bit, which was good because I needed him to run out of gas,” Logano said. “I started to catch him a little bit and I drove into one too hard and started to wheel hop.

“At that point you just hope he runs out of gas, which he did in the last corner. It makes up for last week. We lost the race last week the same way, so it makes up for it to get it this week.”

The win offered Logano a bit of redemption. He ran out of gas while leading with three laps remaining during last week’s race at Pocono Speedway. And a long green flag stretch to end Sunday’s race saw Watkins Glen play out similarly to Pocono with several drivers trying to make it to the finish without pitting.

Harvick and Logano were among the many trying to conserve over the final 30-lap green flag run. Also in that group was Kyle Busch, who inherited the lead from Logano at Pocono only to run out of fuel on the final lap handing the win to Matt Kenseth. Logano and Busch each saved enough, whereas Harvick fell just short and coasted to the finish.

The victory was Logano’s first on a road course and the first for car owner Roger Penske at Watkins Glen.

“What goes around comes around, I guess,” Logano said. “It’s cool to get through on the other end. I’m still just trying to catch my breath.”

By finishing second Busch became provisionally eligible for a spot in the Chase for the Sprint. Although he missed 11 races recovering from a broken right leg and left foot, NASCAR granted Busch a waiver stating he could qualify for the playoffs provided he win a race and end the regular season 30th or better in the standings.

Since returning, Busch has scored four wins in 11 starts but hadn’t moved above the NASCAR-mandated threshold prior to Sunday. He is now six points above the cutline with four regular season races remaining.

“It was just a matter of time,” Busch said. “That was probably another reason we didn’t need to run out of gas and have an issue here today.”

Noted road course racers AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were expected to be contenders. Mechanical troubles, however, hindered all three.

Allmendinger, the pole-sitter led the opening 20 laps, stopped on the track when the No. 47 car lost power during a Lap 50 caution. A brake line failure necessitated a lengthy pit stop for Gordon, who lost four laps as his team made repairs. Stewart’s day ended when the rear end broke disabling the No. 14 car and relegating the five-time Watkins Glen winner to a 43rd last-place finish.

Stewart was competing on the one-year anniversary of striking and killing driver Kevin Ward Jr. with his sprint car during a race at nearby Canandaigua Motorsports Park. On Friday, Ward’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Stewart, who was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by a grand jury last September.

Stewart didn’t compete in the previous two Watkins Glen races. In 2013, he sat out with a broken right leg and missed last year’s event grieving over his involvement in Ward’s death.

“We had a good weekend -- as good as it could be,” Stewart said. “Happy to get to race here today. That is something I have been looking forward to.”