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It’s been a case of when rather than if for Joey Logano for more than a decade. Among active full-time drivers, only record-holder Kyle Busch (19) has bettered Logano’s streak of 12 seasons with a victory.

The driver of the No. 22 Ford extended that run Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his first triumph on a superspeedway since the 2018 Talladega spring race.

It all but clinches a trip to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in September and a chance to defend his championship.

A dominating day for Joey Logano at a special place

Joey Logano records a video with the trophy after winning the Ambetter Health 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series on , March 19, 2023 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. | Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Joey Logano records a video with the trophy after winning the Ambetter Health 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series on , March 19, 2023 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. | Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Once he secured the pole and then proceeded to wire the field on his way to winning the first stage of the Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano seemed destined to win the Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

By the time the day was over, he led 140 of 260 laps, a personal best for him in a superspeedway victory. Winning at AMS for the first time was special for Logano.

“So many memories of me and my dad and racing right here on the quarter-mile, and this is the full circle,” he said during his on-track interview. “So many memories racing here in the Legends car and having a good time and dreaming of going straight on the quarter-mile and onto the big track. That was always the dream to do.

“To finally win here means so much to me personally.”

More winners on a big day for Joey Logano

Tyler Reddick – 23XI Racing had John Hunter Nemechek standing by after Reddick was up much of the night with flu-like symptoms, but the driver of the No. 45 Toyota toughed it out and finished fifth to continue his comeback from an abysmal start at Daytona and Fontana. He pulled it off despite having to make two pit stops during the Stage 2 break because of a fueling glitch.

Corey LaJoie – The driver of the No. 2 Chevy had never finished better than fifth (last year at Atlanta) in 204 career starts but scored fourth-place points to continue a respectable start to the Cup Series season. In the process, he also provided a late push that helped Joey Logano to the victory.

Ryan Blaney – A seventh-place finish after falling three laps down at one point made for a pretty good day at the office.

Losers at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Bubba Wallace – There aren’t much worse feelings than getting loose and wrecking on Lap 11, only to be sent back out two laps down and knowing the No. 23 Toyota probably wasn’t going to compete. He finished 27th, five laps off the lead.

Hendrick Motorsports – William Byron and Kyle Larson possessed two of the best cars but wrecks 10 green-flag laps apart early in the third stage ended their day. Next up: the appeal of penalties NASCAR hit all four HMS cars with after Phoenix.

Got a question or observation about racing? Sportscasting’s John Moriello does a mailbag column each Friday. Write to him at [email protected].

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John Moriello

John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR.

Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls.

John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.