AVONDALE, Ariz. — In a championship that came down to a fierce battle between Team Penske teammates, Joey Logano expertly held off Ryan Blaney to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship in Sunday’s season-finale at Phoenix Raceway.
The championship is Logano’s third, making him the 10th driver to win three or more championships, and gives Penske three consecutive titles with Logano winning in 2022 and Blaney last year.
“I love the playoffs. What a Team Penske battle there at the end,” Logano said.
The top three positions were held by Championship 4 finalists, with Blaney second and William Byron third. Tyler Reddick, the fourth contender, finished sixth.
Blaney ran first among the title finalists for much of the race, but Logano pounced on a late restart, quickly passing Blaney and Byron before building a lead as Blaney couldn’t work through traffic as efficiently.
Eventually, Blaney began incrementally cutting Logano’s lead down, closing to a few thousandths of a second, but Logano drove flawlessly over the final laps to never allow Blaney much of an opportunity. The margin of victory was 0.330 seconds.
Blaney makes a charge, but it’s not enough! @joeylogano is the champion in 2024! #Championship4 pic.twitter.com/HHFZV7GfkG
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
Byron spent the majority of the third and final stage trailing the Penske teammates, prompting his crew chief Rudy Fugle to attempt a differing strategy where he kept Byron on the track for an extended time during a green-flag cycle of pit stops in the hope of catching a timely caution. Although the caution Byron needed came shortly after he completed his stop, it allowed Byron to jump ahead of both Blaney and Logano when a caution came out for rookie Zane Smith’s accident.
Byron’s newfound advantage was short-lived, however. The ensuing restart was when Logano swept by, with Byron unable to offer much resistance. Blaney put forth a furious charge, but it wasn’t enough. Had he won, he would’ve been the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010.
Reddick, in his first appearance in the championship race, was never a factor. The driver for the 23XI Racing team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR star driver Denny Hamlin qualified 10th and, outside of a fleeting moment on a restart where he surged forward, ran around the back half of the top 10 for much of the afternoon.
Kyle Larson finished fourth, with Christopher Bell fifth. Bell led a race-high 143 laps.
Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 Cup champion, finished 17th, in his final race as a full-time driver after starting on the pole.
Required reading
- 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship odds, expert predictions: Who of Championship 4 will emerge victorious?
(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
