Joey Logano wins Clash as Hamlin and Keselowski make contact on final lap

Joey Logano benefited from contact between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski on the final lap to go from third to first and win the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition race at Daytona.

Logano and Keselowski carved their way through the field over the last five laps of the race and were nose-to-tail heading into turn 1 on the final lap. As Keselowski closed in on Hamlin, the race leader, the No. 2 dove to the inside of Hamlin via a push from Logano in turns 1 and 2 in an attempt to take the lead. Hamlin, likely being aggressive because the race doesn’t pay any points, blocked Keselowski and the two made contact.

That left the high side wide open for Logano, who sailed past the two damaged cars and had no one close enough to challenge for the win. Kyle Busch finished second while Alex Bowman was third and Danica Patrick was fourth. While Keselowski’s car made it to the finish, Hamlin’s car went spinning and he stopped on the backstretch.

The Fords of Keselowski and Logano and the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Hamlin, Busch, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez were the class of the field throughout the race. Keselowski maintained his position at the front of the field until a pit road penalty put him at the back. And before the Team Penske duo made a charge to the front at the end of the race, the Gibbs cars were running 1-2-3-4.

The race was delayed from Saturday night because of rain and the rain delay perhaps gave us a better idea of what we’ll see in next Sunday’s Daytona 500 because of the similar daytime conditions.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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