AVONDALE, Ariz. — Eliminated from the playoffs on the end of the second spherical, Joey Logano obtained a second chance when one different competitor was disqualified.
He pounced on the prospect.
Logano was added to the spherical 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 rearrange his Ford for the title run.
He capitalized alongside together with his third NACAR Cup Series championship, using a near-flawless drive to hold off teammate Ryan Blaney and supplies Team Penske its third predominant motorsports title in decrease than a month and third consecutive NASCAR title.
Logano actually known as 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 couldn’t have been how boss Roger Penske would have phrased it, nonetheless it confirmed the workers proprietor how relentless his workers chief can be.
“I might have used different words, but that’s OK,” Penske talked about, “when you win, you can say whatever you want, I guess.”
Logano held off Blaney over the final word 20 laps to beat him for the Cup assortment title by 0.330 seconds. Blaney was attempting to turn into the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson obtained 5 straight from 2006 to 2010.
Instead, Logano grew to develop into the tenth driver in NASCAR historic previous to win three or further championships. Kyle Busch is the one completely different energetic driver with quite a few titles.
“I love the playoffs, I love it man,” Logano talked about. “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 historic previous the group accomplished 1-2 throughout the championship. And, it obtained right here after Penske’s sports activities actions vehicle workers in IMSA obtained the title last month and his World Endurance Championship workers obtained the title last weekend in Bahrain.
Roger Penske talked about he apprehensive throughout the closing laps his two drivers would crash into each other, ending the title hopes for every. He moreover praised longtime sponsor Shell-Pennzoil, which was on Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden’s vehicle for his victory in May for Penske.
Penske moreover deferred taking an extreme quantity of of the credit score rating for the workers success.
“It’s all about the people,” Penske talked about. “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 no matter his disappointment was thrilled for the Penske group.
“At least a Penske car won it,” Blaney talked about. “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 obtained three consecutive Cup Series championships. Logano obtained in 2022 and Blaney obtained last yr.
“One-two for Team Penske, three championships in a row, can’t be more proud of this team,” Logano talked about. “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 very best finisher between Logano, Blaney, William Byron in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of the 23XI Racing workers owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.
Byron accomplished third throughout the race and Reddick was sixth. It was Byron’s second consecutive look throughout the finale, first for Reddick.
“Makes you hungrier, but also just more experience in what it takes,” talked about 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 as compared together with his fellow title contenders, didn’t lead a lap and had Jordan pacing behind the pit wall lots of the race.
“Michael was just proud of the effort of our team all year long,” Reddick talked about. “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 4 title contenders accomplished throughout the excessive 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 in its place, and Bell insisted he had been cheated out of the prospect to race for the title.
Logano, a 34-year-old from Connecticut, led 107 laps throughout the dominating win that Blaney made nearer than anticipated throughout the final laps.
“Our team is better under pressure,” Logano talked about. “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.”
