AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joey Logano pulled off a masterful restart and held on for dear life.
Fifty-four laps later, Logano had his third NASCAR Cup Series championship — most among full-time active drivers — by a scant 0.330 seconds over Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney.
On the final restart on Lap 259 of 312 of Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, Logano drove like a cannon shot from sixth place past Blaney, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and finally race leader, and Championship 4 contender William Byron to seize the top spot on Lap 260.
RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Phoenix
Logano remained out front the rest of the way, though Blaney got as close as 0.167 seconds back over the last 10 laps.
The victory was Logano‘s fourth at Phoenix, his fourth of the season and the 36th of his career. As a three-time champion, Logano ties Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart, all NASCAR Hall of Famers.
Only four drivers have more titles: Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jimmie Johnson with seven each and Jeff Gordon with four.
The championship was the third straight for team owner Roger Penske, with Logano winning in 2022 and Blaney claiming the crown last year.
“I love the playoffs, I love it, man,” Logano said. “What a race! What a Team Penske battle there at the end. Had a good restart and was able to get in front of the 12 (Blaney). And he had a lot of long-run speed there, and it was all I had there to hold him off.
“Man, three (championships), that’s really special to get that. What a team. To fight through today, we went through a little bit of adversity throughout the race.
“I’ve got the best team. 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. We’ve got a mentally tough team that can make things happen when it matters.”
Logano‘s team, however, had issues on pit road. The No. 22 Ford lost four spots under caution for the Stage 1 break, and after green-flag stops during the second stage, Patrick Gray from Austin Cindric‘s No. 2 team replaced Logano‘s jackman, Graham Stoddard, who was ill.
After the final restart, Logano took charge, with considerable help from his spotter.
SHOP: Champion gear
“Coleman Pressley,” said Logano, who led twice for 107 laps, second to Christopher Bell‘s 143. “He was telling me where (Blaney) was. He was up there telling me the best lanes to run. And it’s a balance of putting dirty air on him and running the fastest laps for my Ford. We just got a little too tight there at the end and couldn’t really wrap the bottom as well as I wanted to.
“One-two for Team Penske, three championships in a row since this Next-Gen car (was introduced in 2022). Couldn’t be more proud of everyone at the shop that’s built these things.”
Byron finished third behind Logano and Blaney. Tyler Reddick was last among the Championship 4 drivers in sixth and never was a factor for the win.
After the final restart shook out, Blaney was fourth behind Logano, Byron and Larson. He passed Larson on Lap 277 and Byron on Lap 290. Over the next 22 suspense-filled laps, Blaney got close to Logano‘s rear bumper but not close enough to make a move for the lead.
“I had to work really hard to get by the 5 (Larson) and the 24 (Byron). Joey was pretty far away, and I was working really hard to try to get to Joey. I was kind of nervous that if I ended up getting close to him, a lot of my stuff would be burned off of it, and it kind of was. But didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t really wait.
“Yeah, just took too long. The restart didn’t play out for us. I feel like if I came out behind Joey and didn’t have two cars in between us that I had to pass, I would have been able to have a better shot. But just the restart didn’t work out, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Logano followed a strange path to the championship. He was eliminated from the playoffs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, only to get a second life when the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman failed post-race inspection by not meeting minimum weight.
Logano took full advantage, winning at Las Vegas the following week to earn his place in the Championship 4 round.
Larson and Bell finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Bubba Wallace, Elliott, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suárez came home seventh through 10th.
After the race ended, Logano looked around in bewilderment.
“Where‘s my crew?” Logano asked, then realized that his team was hustling from pit stall No. 24 on the backstretch, the stall assigned by NASCAR after Logano‘s car failed pre-race inspection twice.
The final race marked a season of endings. Pole winner Martin Truex Jr. finished 17th in his final race as a full-time driver.
Kyle Busch‘s record streak of 19 straight years with at least one Cup victory ended in a 21st-place finish. Logano now holds the longest active streak at 13 years.
Stewart-Haas Racing is ceasing to operate after the end of the race, with 12th-place Noah Gragson finishing highest among the four SHR drivers.
Jeff Striegle called his last race in the booth for the Motor Racing Network (MRN). Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing, announced his retirement after 45 years with NASCAR‘s exclusive tire maker.
Harrison Burton finished 16th in his final drive for the Wood Brothers. And FedEx sponsored Denny Hamlin‘s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the final time.
Read the full article here
