Joey Logano Wins at Phoenix, Claims Third Cup Series Championship

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

AVONDALE, Ariz. – The NASCAR Cup Series field learned an important lesson on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway: Never give Joey Logano a second chance. He’ll make you pay.

And make them pay, he did.

The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was down and out after the conclusion of the Round of 12 in the Playoffs a month ago, but a fellow competitor’s disqualification gave him new life and he made it count.

Logano went out and won in the opening race of the Round of 8 at Las Vegas to secure his spot in the championship race and crew chief Paul Wolfe having an additional three weeks to prepare, his team came into Phoenix on kill and set the tone that the title would have to go through them.

“We got them down now. 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,” Logano said after qualifying on Saturday, illustrating just how confident he was in his team.

After starting on the outside of the front row, Logano jumped to the lead on Lap 10, winning the first stage and finishing the second in third-place.

In the final stage, it would come down to a final restart with 54 laps to go to determine who would be bringing home the championship trophy.

With William Byron restarting in the lead among the Championship 4 and Logano starting in sixth, the 34-year-old Connecticut native took the bull by the horns when the green flag dropped for the final time, powering to the lead in less than a lap with a bold three-wide pass on Byron and Christopher Bell.

From there, Logano was able to set sail, increasing his lead with each passing lap, but lurking behind him would be his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, who had a battle on his hand to get around the cars between him and Logano to try and give his teammate a run for his money down the stretch.

Though Blaney chewed into his lead and got to Logano’s rear bumper, the cagey veteran was able to hold off the advances of his teammate to cross the line in first, banking both the race win and a historic third championship.

“I love the Playoffs. I love it, man. What a race!” Logano said. “What a Team Penske battle there at the end. Had a good restart and was able to get in front of the 12. And he had a lot of long run speed there, and it was all I had there to hold him off.

“Man, three of them, 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 can’t thank Ford enough and Shell and Pennzoil and Hunt Brothers Pizza, Paul Wolfe. What a crew chief do I have?

“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 now joins a select group of drivers to have at least three Cup championships on their resume, joining the likes of Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson.

“It’s special, for sure, but I can’t help but think about everybody that this affects even more so than just a stat like that,” Logano said. “Everyone works so hard and there are so many important things that happen when you win a championship and it affects so many people’s lives – two or three or four or five, whatever, this affects a lot of people. That’s what I care about the most. 

“That’s me getting a little older and caring about others more, but that’s probably the thing that comes back to my mind about the amount of people that this affects, especially with a 1-2 with Blaney like that – 1-2 in the race and 1-2 in the championship. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”

In addition, Logano’s championship win gives Team Penske its third Cup Series title in a row, joining Logano’s second title in 2022 and Blaney’s first championship a year ago.

Even though he fell short of making it back-to-back titles, Blaney had a message for all of the doubters that have questioned Team Penske and their championship streak.

“It’s just kind of — gosh, we got through it every year, ’22, ’23, and this year we sit around at the beginning of the year and in the summer a little bit and come to the Playoff time, all of our employees have to sit around and listen to people saying that we suck and we don’t deserve to be here and why are they in the playoffs and all that shit and we’ve won the last three championships,” Blaney said.

“This team does a great job of rising to doubters, and it’s really cool to be a part of that team, and they just work their asses off to figure out what we need to do to get better every single week, and they know how to rise to the occasion come Playoff time.”