NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Logano overcomes pit issues to win third title

Team Penske’s Joey Logano faced ample pit road adversity, only to go on to become the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Logano joins the likes of Tony Stewart, David Pearson, and Cale Yarborough in the three-time Cup champion winners list.

Joey Logano wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship

A poor early pit stop, an ailing jack man, and a hard-charging teammate weren’t enough to stop a dominant Joey Logano from taking his third NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.

“I love the Playoffs,” Logano exclaimed as soon as he climbed from his No. 22 Ford. “What a race. What a Team Penske battle at the end.”

He continued by noting his incredible third title, saying, “Three of them, that’s really special, to fight through today.”

Let’s dig into how it happened.

Stage 1 report

The race kicked off with retiring Martin Truex Jr. on pole position. In second, Joey Logano represented the highest-starting driver in championship contention, with fellow competitors William Byron starting eighth, Tyler Reddick in 10th, and Ryan Blaney back in 17th.

Truex got a clean start and shot into the lead, as Logano was left to battle with the No. 1 of Ross Chastain until the latter got loose.

The first caution of the night flew on the second lap, when the No. 54 of Ty Gibbs slammed into the wall. Gibbs lost control early in the lap, corrected the issue, and then lost control again. It took him a few moments to collect himself before exiting the car but was thankfully unhurt.

The green flag waved again on lap 10, with Logano instantly challenging Truex for a lead that he took with ease. By lap 22, the championship four drivers had cruised into the top-seven positions, with Logano first, Byron fourth, Reddick sixth, and Blaney seventh.

The battle between Blaney and Reddick kicked off as Stage 1 whittled away, finally making it stick on the final lap.

The championship four finished the stage in first (Logano), fourth (Byron), sixth (Blaney), and seventh (Reddick).

Understanding the NASCAR Playoffs:

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Stage 2 report

The first round of pit stops in the 2024 finale kicked off during the stage break. Chase Elliott had a quick pit stop that saw him exit in the lead, followed by Christopher Bell, Byron, Blaney, Logano, Truex, and Reddick. Logano reported trouble with his right front tire, losing four positions in the process.

Leading the field to green, the pace car ducked quickly into the pit road and knocked a protective barrel into the middle of the pit lane, resulting in a red flag to clean up the mess.

Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott battled for the lead, with Bell coming out on top. Ryan Blaney also got a great start, taking third position and making him the best-placed championship contender, just ahead of Byron and Logano. Reddick dipped further back in the running.

On lap 105, Blaney managed to make a pass on Elliott stick, moving up into the second position.

Pit stops kicked off around 10 laps later. Logano had another tough stop, narrowly avoiding contact with the No. 7. Blaney once again returned to the track as the highest-placed championship contender in the field. After stops, that turned out to be P2.

Lap 152 saw a critical battle kick off between Byron in third and Logano in fourth, with Logano ultimately taking the position.

With under 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Blaney began attacking Bell via the high line, sneaking into the lead of the race with seven laps to go. However, the No. 20 wasn’t going to let the Team Penske driver take that lead easily, and Bell fought back hard.

It wasn’t enough; Blaney took the flag signaling the end of the second stage.

The championship four finished the stage in first (Blaney), third (Logano), fourth (Byron), and 10th (Reddick).

Stage 3 report

Pit stops kicked off the start of stage three, with Blaney losing out a position to Bell. Meanwhile, Byron launched up to third place, followed by Logano.

Bell grabbed an early lead on the restart, followed by Blaney. Byron passed Logano for third, while Tyler Reddick attempted a four-wide pass around the outside in order to regain track position, bringing him into fifth place.

The first sign of trouble for the No. 12 kicked off soon after; as Blaney complained of no grip, Logano breezed by for second place and therefore the lead of the championship.

Blaney’s car seemed to recover some of its speed several laps later, allowing him to mount a challenge with 84 laps remaining. Five laps later he made the pass stick, inheriting second place.

Pit stops kicked off almost immediately after, with Logano the first championship contender to dip into the pits. Blaney and Reddick followed, with Byron gambling on a longer run by pitting several laps later.

The strategy came into play soon after, as Zane Smith brought out a late-race caution and prompted Blaney, Logano, and Reddick to pit. That left Byron leading on the track with fresher tires.

The green flew again with 55 laps remaining. The Penske teammates carved up through the field as Christopher Bell duked it out with William Byron. Logano took to the apron to snag the lead; after getting a little loose, Byron was able to catch up to him.

Blaney then tried to emulate Logano’s move on the apron, passing Christopher Bell and waging war with Kyle Larson. Meanwhile, his teammate pulled away for a strong lead.

The reigning champion made the pass on Larson on Lap 277, then managed to pull away to create a gap and start to carve away at the lead held by Logano, followed by Byron.

With 24 laps remaining, Blaney was already prepared to make a challenge on William Byron. He cleared the pass, then quickly began to pull away from Byron in order to chase down Logano.

Blaney was on Logano’s bumper with seven laps to go, sampling different lanes in order to make a pass. However, it wasn’t enough; Blaney couldn’t quite cut down the gap.

Joey Logano took his third Cup Series championship with a victory at Phoenix Raceway.

NASCAR Cup Series finishing order: Phoenix championship race

1 – Joey Logano

2 – Ryan Blaney

3 – William Byron

4 – Kyle Larson

5 – Christopher Bell

6 – Tyler Reddick

7 – Bubba Wallace

8 – Chase Elliott

9 – Chris Buescher

10 – Daniel Suarez

11 – Denny Hamlin

12 – Noah Gragson

13 – Austin Cindric

14 – Alex Bowman

15 – Brad Keselowski

16 – Harrison Burton

17 – Martin Truex Jr.

18 – Carson Hocevar

19 – Ross Chastain

20 – Todd Gilliland

21 – Kyle Busch

22 – Erik Jones

23 – Daniel Hemric

24 – Josh Berry

25 – Derek Kraus

26 – Jimmie Johnson

27 – Austin Dillon

28 – Justin Haley

29 – Chase Briscoe

30 – John Hunter Nemechek

31 – Michael McDowell

32 – Corey LaJoie

33 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

34 – Kaz Grala

35 – JJ Yeley

36 – Chad Finchum

37 – Ryan Preece

38 – Jeb Burton

39 – Zane Smith

40 – Ty Gibbs

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