Joey Logano Joins Elite Group with Third NASCAR Championship

Joey Logano secured his third NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, joining an elite group of drivers who have achieved this feat. The 34-year-old Team Penske driver outdueled his teammate Ryan Blaney, as well as Championship 4 contenders William Byron and Tyler Reddick, to claim the title.

Logano is now the only active driver with three Cup Series championships and the first to accomplish this since Tony Stewart in 2011. He joins NASCAR legends Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and Tony Stewart as drivers with at least three titles at NASCAR’s highest level.

“I love the playoffs. I love it, man. What a race! What a Team Penske battle there at the end,” Logano said. “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.”

The victory marked Logano’s 36th win, tying him with Brad Keselowski for 24th all-time. It was also his fourth win at Phoenix and his fourth of the 2024 season. Logano led a total of 107 laps, including the final 53 after passing Byron.

Logano’s playoff run was impressive, starting with a win at the playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Despite an initial elimination after the Charlotte Roval, he was given a second chance when Alex Bowman’s car failed post-race inspection.

Logano capitalized on this opportunity, winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Round of 8 to lock himself into the Championship 4. The extra time to prepare for Phoenix clearly paid off, as Logano held off a hard-charging Blaney in the closing laps.

When asked about the key to holding off Blaney, Logano credited his spotter, saying, “(Spotter) Coleman Pressley. He was telling me where he 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 rap the bottom as well as I wanted to.”