LEBANON, Tenn. -- Joey Logano has won his first race of the season after outlasting the NASCAR field at Nashville Superspeedway.
The two-time Cup champion was on fumes during the fifth overtime attempt at the 1.33-mile track, but he had just enough gas to hold off a hard-charging Tyler Reddick and rookie Zane Smith. He used aggressive blocks and kept them behind him long enough to take the checkered flag.
Smith finished a career-best second. Reddick, Ryan Preece, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top five.
MORE: Logano wins, full Nashville results
MORE: Cup Series driver points
The race, which ultimately went 331 laps, initially went to overtime after Austin Cindric spun with two laps remaining. This set up a two-lap shootout for the win. Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain stayed out with Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch while Bubba Wallace led a large group of drivers down pit road.
This was only the first attempt at overtime. Wrecks involving Larson, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Busch, Corey Heim, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, and Josh Berry kept extending the race.
Logano kept staying out on track as other drivers had to pit for fuel, even though his last stop was 103 laps prior. This bold gamble by Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe paid off in a major way as he went from a tenuous points position to having a secure spot in the playoffs.
Logano even had enough fuel to perform a burnout at the start-finish line.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Notable: Christopher Bell had the dominant car Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. He led 131 laps and swept the first two stages. However, he crashed with just over 70 laps remaining in the race after losing control while racing Larson and Austin Dillon.
One big thing: Sunday's Cup race came to a halt midway through the second stage due to repeated lightning strikes within eight miles. Heavy rain briefly fell at the 1.33-mile track. The race remained under a red flag delay for one hour and 21 minutes.
Stage 1: Bell won stage 1. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr., and Bubba Wallace were all top 10.
Stage 2: Bell won stage 2. Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, and Noah Gragson were all top 10.
Next: The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the streets of Chicago for a race on Sunday, July 7. NBC will provide coverage at 4:30 p.m. ET.