Joey Logano celebrates after winning Sunday’s Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. Logano denied Penske teammate Ryan Blaney a repeat title and also beat out finalists William Byron and Tyler Reddick.
John Locher | AP photo
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Joey Logano does a victory lap after winning his third career Cup Series crown.
John Locher | AP photo
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Eliminated from the playoffs at the end of the second round, Joey Logano received a second chance when another competitor was disqualified.
He pounced on the opportunity.
Logano was added to the round of eight following Alex Bowman’s disqualification and immediately went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win the third-round opener. It made Logano the first driver locked into Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway with three weeks to prepare his Ford for the title run.
He capitalized with his his third NACAR Cup Series championship, using a near-flawless drive to hold off teammate Ryan Blaney and give Team Penske its third major motorsports title in less than a month and third consecutive NASCAR title.
Logano actually called his shot after qualifying second Saturday when he confidently acknowledged it was his Cup Series title to lose.
“Yeah, I do. I feel like our car is strong. We got them down now,” Logano boasted. “We just have to put our foot on their throats. We feel pretty strong about our team, and these type of pressure situations we feel really solid about as far as our team in these moments.”
It may not have been how boss Roger Penske would have phrased it, but it showed the team owner how relentless his team leader can be.
“I might have used different words, but that’s OK,” Penske said, “when you win, you can say whatever you want, I guess.”
Logano held off Blaney over the final 20 laps to beat him for the Cup series title by 0.330 seconds. Blaney was trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010.
Instead, Logano became the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more championships. Kyle Busch is the only other active driver with multiple titles.
“I love the playoffs, I love it man,” Logano said. “What a team, what a Penske battle there at the end. Three of them? That’s truly special.”
It was the first time in Team Penske history the organization finished 1-2 in the championship. And, it came after Penske’s sports car team in IMSA won the title last month and his World Endurance Championship team won the title last weekend in Bahrain.
Roger Penske said he worried in the closing laps his two drivers would crash into each other, ending the title hopes for both. He also praised longtime sponsor Shell-Pennzoil, which was on Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden’s car for his victory in May for Penske.
Penske also deferred taking too much of the credit for the team success.
“It’s all about the people,” Penske said. “My name might be on the door, but it’s all about the people who make the difference and we sure have them on this team.”
Blaney was exhausted after the race, and despite his disappointment was thrilled for the Penske organization.
“At least a Penske car won it,” Blaney said. “They put together a great playoffs, and we’re happy. If we’re going to race somebody, I’m happy it was him for the championship, and happy to be 1-2 for Roger, three in a row for Roger, super amazing, and Ford.”
Penske and Ford have won three consecutive Cup Series championships. Logano won in 2022 and Blaney won last year.
“One-two for Team Penske, three championships in a row, can’t be more proud of this team,” Logano said. “I don’t know if I’m the best driver but I’ve got the best team. And together, we’re very well-rounded and can show up when it matters the most.”
The finale was winner-take-all to the highest finisher between Logano, Blaney, William Byron in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of the 23XI Racing team owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.
Byron finished third in the race and Reddick was sixth. It was Byron’s second consecutive appearance in the finale, first for Reddick.
“Makes you hungrier, but also just more experience in what it takes,” said Byron, the Daytona 500 winner. “I feel like this style of track has been tough on us, and we made a lot of strides this year, but still more to go. If we can just kind of inch up on this style of track, I know we’re so good at all the other ones, and we can put it all together.”
Reddick, who had been subdued all week compared to his fellow title contenders, didn’t lead a lap and had Jordan pacing behind the pit wall much of the race.
“Michael was just proud of the effort of our team all year long,” Reddick said. “Put up a good fight. We didn’t make any mistakes that took ourselves out of it. We fought as hard as we could.”
The four title contenders finished in the top six, with Reddick behind Kyle Larson of Hendrick and Christopher Bell, who led a race-high 143 laps after he was disqualified from the finale last week at Martinsville for a safety violation. Byron took his spot instead, and Bell insisted he had been cheated out of the chance to race for the title.
Logano, a 34-year-old from Connecticut, led 107 laps in the dominating win that Blaney made closer than expected in the final laps.
But, his very presence in the final four was controversial as Logano was eliminated from the playoffs after the second round. He was reinstated before Las Vegas, where he won to give the No. 22 team three weeks to prepare for Phoenix.
“Our team is better under pressure,” Logano said. “The race started in Vegas for us. The amount of work and effort that went into building this race car right here, the amount of time, I don’t think anyone works harder than us. We were up at 6 in the morning this morning going over stuff. The guys just want it bad and I’m glad we delivered.”
TRUEX’S FAREWELL
Martin Truex Jr. got a nice surprise when his fellow drivers gave him a standing ovation during the prerace meeting Sunday.
Once on the track, the 44-year-old driver from New Jersey took time to thank his team for all the memories before his final race as a full-time Cup driver.
“Thanks for sticking out all the way to the end here,” Truex said on the radio, his voice breaking at the end. “Hopefully we can go out on top. Appreciate all your hard work and dedication with all the things we’ve done over the years. It’s meant a lot.”
Truex didn’t get his wish.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 10 laps after starting on the pole, but got caught in a shuffle of pit stops and cautions, costing him a chance to compete for one final win.
Truex finished 17th after all the hoopla, earning post-race handshakes and praise from Jordan, along with four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon.
Truex had a stellar career as a full-time driver, winning the 2017 Cup Series championship and 34 career victories in a NASCAR career that started in 2004. He also won two Xfinity Series championships.
Truex is expected to race in next year’s Daytona 500 and has talked to team owner Joe Gibbs about running a few Xfinity races.
“It means a lot to have earned that respect over the years,” Truex said. “Going forward, do a little bit of racing just for fun and hopefully it’s not as stressful as today.”
HAMLIN AND FEDEX
It appears Hamlin’s 20-year run with FedEx as a sponsor is coming to an end.
Hamlin thanked FedEx in a social media post before Sunday’s race and the shipping company followed with one of its own.
“What a ride it’s been!” FedEx posted on X. “Denny and the entire Joe Gibbs team, it’s been an incredible 20 years of racing with the best. #TeamFedEx will always be cheering you on.”
FedEx has been a sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing since 2005, but has pulled back in recent years. After sponsoring all of Hamlin’s car for all 36 races in 2020, FedEx was the primary sponsor in 14 points races this year.
PACE CAR CRASH
Ty Gibbs had the first official crash of Sunday’s race, climbing up into the outside wall on lap 2.
The second didn’t knock any of the competitors out, but it did delay the race.
Leading the field back to green after the first stage caution, the pace car driver caused chaos with a late decision to turn into pit road. The pace car cut across the front two cars, slid into the barrels protecting the end of the pit road wall and sent sand flying onto the track, leading to a red flag.
The mishap delayed the race for several minutes, but garnered a chuckle from Jordan in his 23XI Racing box on pit road.
The pace car suffered damage to the rear right side and had to be replaced by a backup car.
ODDS AND ENDS
• Busch’s record of winning a Cup Series race in 19 straight seasons came down to one last race. Busch never really had a chance to extend his streak. He started 25th and had a hard time making up ground, finishing 21st in failing to win for the first time in his career in a Cup Series that included two championships.
• The Cup Series finale was a relatively clean race, with just two cautions caused by accidents. Ty Gibbs was among the few unlucky drivers, crashing hard into the wall on the second lap.
“We’ve been really hard on the track there allweek and I think I just caught it at a bad angle, and it just took off from me,” he said. “I had no control there. It was a really, really big hit though.”
• Carson Hocevar was named the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series rookie of the year after earning six top-10s and one top-five finish during his first full season in the No. 77 car.
• Chevrolet won the NASCAR Cup Series manufacturers championship.