Joey Logano wins 2016 NASCAR All-Star Race

Joey Logano tracked down then executed a pass on Kyle Larson with two laps remaining to win NASCAR’s All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Restarting third and with fresh tires, Larson quickly dispatched Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, who both had older tires and restarted first and second, to take the lead with 13 laps remaining. He then distanced himself from the field.

Gradually, though, Logano began closing in and with three laps to go pulled underneath Larson down the frontstretch entering Turn 1 when Larson got loose and slid into the outside wall. Logano then pulled away to win his first All-Star Race.

“I knew I had position on him going into the corner and had to keep him on my quarter-panel and not let him get to my door, so I drove in there hard,” Logano said. “He was gonna drive in there hard to keep on my door and I was gonna drive in there hard to keep him at my quarter.

“What a crazy battle for $1 million dollars at the end.”

Larson, who wasn’t initially qualified for the main event but earned a spot by winning the preliminary Sprint Showdown, took the defeat hard. The third-year driver nearly won his first official race a week ago at Dover International Speedway, finishing a close second behind winner Matt Kenseth.

Brad Keselowski, Logano’s teammate, finished second to give Team Penske a sweep of the top two positions. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third. Larson fell to 16th.

“I’m super disappointed. I hate that I keep letting my team down,” Larson said. “They did everything right. They worked their tails off after I got all the damage in the Showdown. I’m having fun but this will be hard to get over.”

A new race format featuring three segments, mandatory pit stops and a random inversion proved problematic due to a series of unforeseen circumstances.

When race-leader Kenseth failed to make his required pit stop in Segment 1, it created a scoring mess where several cars were trapped a lap down. NASCAR penalized Kenseth a lap, but officials were unable to sort out the confusion leaving several drivers confused about their position and the format itself.

“It’s the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Tony Stewart said. “It’s the most screwed up All-Star race I’ve ever been a part of.”

Stewart was involved in the only accident of not Saturday night. The six-car incident began when rookie Chase Elliott tried to make it to pit road for his mandatory stop, but appeared unable to properly slow down.

Also involved were Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, who won Segment 1, Greg Biffle, and Kasey Kahne, who slammed into Stewart’s prone car on the frontstretch. No drivers were injured.

“I’m all right,” Stewart said. “I’m just madder than hell because I don’t understand how the hell they’ve officiated this from start to finish.”