Although it didn’t count for the standings, Joey Logano’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win halted a rough patch of consecutive finishes outside the top 20: Talladega (25), Kansas (38) and Dover (22). Heading into Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Logano sits 10th on the Chase Grid, a comfortable 62 points ahead of Ryan Newman on the cutoff line, but a points-paying win would ensure him a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs. Logano won the last race at Charlotte in the fall, leading 227-of-334 laps. His highest finish in the Coca-Cola 600 was a third-place showing in 2011. In 14 Charlotte starts, Logano claims one win, five top five and eight op 10s. If he wins on Sunday, Logano will become the eighth driver to win both the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600: Darrell Waltrip (1985), Davey Allison (1991), Dale Earnhardt (1993), Jeff Gordon (1997), Jimmie Johnson (2003), Kasey Kahne (2008) and Kurt Busch (2010). A Ford driver has not won the Coca-Cola 600 since Mark Martin in 2002.(Team Penske)
