The Penske Ford driver sat second when a second caution period was triggered with just five laps remaining, as smoke billowed from the Chevrolet of Jamie McMurray, who was running inside the top 10.

Greg Biffle had been around 40 seconds clear of the field after staying out as the rest pitted inside the last 20 laps, but headed for fuel after the race went over its scheduled distance under caution.

Logano therefore took over the lead as the field prepared for a single attempt at a green-white-chequered finish, under a new rule introduced for the race.

At the restart, Jimmie Johnson spun onto the infield after contact, and because the caution flag was thrown just before the pack reached the start-finish line, it did not count as an attempt at a restart.

There was then more carnage at the next restart, as a slow Kevin Harvick clipped Ryan Blaney and triggered a pile-up.

This time, Logano had crossed the line to commence a GWC attempt and, after a lengthy deliberation, he was declared the winner.

After recovering from a penalty for having crew over the wall too soon at a pitstop, Dale Earnhardt Jr had been second at the restart, needing to win in order to be one of the eight drivers through to the next round of the Chase.

He was on the inside of Logano but wasn’t quite alongside when the caution came, forcing him to settle for second and be knocked out.

Polesitter Jeff Gordon took third ahead of Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards, with all three making the next round.

Behind Paul Menard in sixth was Martin Truex Jr, who spent much of the race a lap down after starting at the rear due to an infringement in qualifying and later losing touch with the pack.

The race’s first caution on lap 131 of the planned 188 – when Justin Allgaier’s engine let go – gave Truex the free pass, enabling him to climb the order and make the next phase of the Chase.

Denny Hamlin was eliminated after ending up four laps down. He had spells in the lead in the first 20 laps but was plagued by a loose roof flap that required numerous attempts from his pitcrew to be secured.

Also out of contention is Matt Kenseth, classified 26th after being caught up in the final wreck.

It took a while for the final results – and therefore the identity of the final drivers qualifying for the next round – to be made official.

Kurt and Kyle Busch make it through after finishing 10th and 11th respectively, as does Harvick, 15th after triggering the final melee.

Ryan Newman therefore joins Hamlin, Earnhardt and Kenseth in being eliminated, a 12th place finish not enough for him to move forward.