Joey Logano wins NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway

Joey Logano grabbed the first berth into the next round of NASCAR’s championship race with a victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway.

Logano’s win advanced him into the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which begins after stops at Charlotte and Talladega. Four drivers will be cut from the 12-driver field after Talladega.

“Getting us to the next round, that’s awesome,” Logano said. “This is so much fun, I’m having a blast this year, and we’ve got a real shot to win this championship. I feel like we’re one of the teams to beat.”

It was Logano’s career-best fifth win of the season and ties with him Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski for most in the Sprint Cup Series.

Kyle Larson — who is not part of the Chase — finished second and was followed by championship-eligible driver Kyle Busch, who finished a career-best third at a track where he has continuously seen his title hopes fall apart.

“I won today,” Busch said, “I just didn’t get champagne and a trophy.”

Kansas is noted for destroying the championship chances of many a driver, and Sunday saw four Chase drivers finish 22nd or worse. That included three of the Hendrick Motorsports cars — and six-time and defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson, who spun during Friday qualifying and started 32nd, was mired in thick traffic when he was hit by Greg Biffle just 85 laps into the race. He was forced to take his Chevrolet to the garage for repairs and finished 40th.

“It just means we’ve got to be on our game at Charlotte and Talladega,” Johnson said. “We’ll see how the other Chasers fare. If I can get taken out today, somebody else can later in this event or at Charlotte. Certainly need W’s, I would assume, going forward.”

He was spot-on about other Chasers having problems. Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leading when a flat tire caused him to hit the wall. He finished 39th after leading 45 laps in what had been shaping up to be his strongest race so far in this Chase.

“Just the whole surface of the tire unwound like a string. It just came off the tire and it popped off the corner,” said Earnhardt. “Man, that was a great race car. We hadn’t been running very good the last several weeks.”

Keselowski was the next to suffer a tire problem that sent him into the wall. He finished 36th.

“Russian Roulette,” Keselowski said, “and it was our turn.”

Kasey Kahne was the third Hendrick car to see his day fall apart when he hit the wall. He was 22nd.