Practice #1 : Phoenix Raceway

• Thursday, November 7th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4

Ryan Blaney hopes Championship Race is just as sweet the second time around

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney smiled and acknowledged that having won a title in NASCAR’s premier series last year helped prepare him for his second shot this weekend.

Should the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford capture another title Sunday, he would be the first driver since Jimmie Johnson’s five-consecutive-championship run from 2006 through 2010 to win back-to-back titles. It would be the third consecutive for team owner Roger Penske, with teammate Joey Logano winning one in 2022.

“We have a chance to bring him (Penske) three in a row on the Cup side, and I’ve always thought internally to myself, ‘How do you make Roger proud?’” the 30-year-old Blaney explained.

“That’s my only goal in my racing life the last 12 years, how do I make Roger proud—because he’s given me my life really and bluntly—it’s to win races and win championships he hasn’t done before.

“And it’s a very small list of things he hasn’t done in motorsports, and we have a chance to do it for him. It’s just great to be in a position to do it for him, and we have two cars that can do it.

“He’s meant a ton to me, and it would mean the world just to keep bringing him things,” Blaney continued. “You can’t buy him anything, so you’ve got to win him championships and races, and that’s really all he cares about. It’s pretty amazing how dedicated he is to motorsports for how long he’s been in it.”

Blaney is coming off a walk-off victory, taking the trophy at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last weekend, prevailing in a must-win, must-perform situation similar to what he will need to do this weekend at Phoenix to repeat.

A three-race winner this season with 11 top fives, Blaney is the No. 1 seed in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

He is bolstered, he says, by having learned a lot from last year’s experience—his first time racing for a championship. He’s comfortable, smiling and insisting no lucky trinkets or superstitions necessary.

“Mentally, I think it’s been a little bit different because I have some experience being in the Championship 4—last year was my first time and I was just excited to be a part of the Champ 4 and going for a title and still am,” he said. “But I had a lot of unknowns last year. I didn’t know how the week would go. This year, you just have more experience, and you know what to expect.

“I’ve always said, experience is kind of king over everything,” he added. “You just get more comfortable in these positions when you have the reps in it.”

Years of Champ 4 experience have given Joey Logano sanguine perspective

At 34 years old, Joey Logano is competing in his 16th full-time season of NASCAR Cup Series racing, and on Sunday, he’ll try for his third series title in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford is the unrivaled veteran of Championship 4 events, having qualified for a record sixth this season. All his Championship 4 appearances have come in even-numbered years since NASCAR adopted the elimination format in 2014.

It was a relaxed, confident Logano who greeted reporters on NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 Media Day on Thursday at the one-mile flat track. That stood in sharp contrast to the driver who tried for his first title 10 years ago.

“It’s completely different,” said Logano, who shares the lead with Kyle Busch for most championships among full-time active drivers with two. “I remember my first time. How do you not get nervous the first time you sit in here, with all you guys talking.

“You’ve got the thoughts of what the championship would mean to your career, your team—and will you ever get another chance? It’s something you really want to click off and say you’re a NASCAR champion. All this stuff goes through your mind.

“That was something my first time that really… it got to me. I don’t see how it doesn’t, especially when you’re younger. Now you start to get comfortable in the scenario, you start to love the pressure and get excited more than nervous. That’s a big deal.”

A third title would put Logano in elite company, tied with Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart—all NASCAR Hall of Famers. Only seven-time champions Richard Petty, Dale Earnhart Sr. and Jimmie Johnson and four-time champion Jeff Gordon have more.

Logano, however, isn’t concerned with his legacy just yet.

“When it comes to individually, I don’t think about it that much,” said Logano, who won the first of two straight titles for Team Penske in 2022. “I think of it more as a team, because I know what a championship is worth to everybody.

“So I think that matters more. The individual piece, to say you’ve got three of them, I mean that’s great, but I think because I’m still doing it, I don’t look at it that much. But I’d like to see the people that I care about on the race team celebrate.”

In order for the No. 22 team to celebrate, though, Logano will have to beat William Byron, Tyler Reddick and his own teammate, 2023 champion Ryan Blaney.

William Byron is ignoring ‘outside noise’ as title race approaches

William Byron stood anxiously next to his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet last Sunday on Martinsville (Va.) Speedway’s pit lane as NASCAR officials settled a points tiebreaker between Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell—the winner receiving a ticket to the Championship Four, the other forced to wait until next year for a title opportunity.

Byron acknowledged the wait seemed like eternity, but this year’s Daytona 500 winner received the news that he “was in”—thanks to a Bell penalty—and maintains he instantaneously turned his thoughts to winning his first NASCAR Cup Series title as the lone Chevrolet driver among the four title contenders this weekend at Phoenix.

On the drive home from Martinsville to Charlotte, Byron shared that he put his cell phone away and arrived home “kind of excited… it was kind of relaxing.”

The 25-year-old Charlotte native and 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion will benefit from his 14-time-championship Hendrick team being able to focus its massive resources and efforts on his iconic No. 24 Chevrolet.

Byron won at Phoenix in the spring of 2023 and has four top-five finishes through the opening nine races of this year’s Playoffs. He is one top-10 away from tying his personal best of 21 in 2023.

“I haven’t ever felt as bonded to my team as I am now,” said Byron, who finished a career-best third in the 2023 championship standings. “We had a meeting on Sunday night about it, and I feel like we turned the page really, really quickly.

“For me personally, I’ve blocked out a ton of the noise. I haven’t looked at social media. I don’t really care. I’m just trying to focus on getting the 24 car as fast as I can. I think past experiences have probably helped fuel that. I’ve been through enough BS in my Cup career that I know what to focus on and what to block out.

“I just want to do a great job for my team. I feel honestly Sunday night is a huge opportunity for us to go out and win the championship.”

Tyler Reddick is focused on the Championship Race in first attempt at Cup title

If the spring event at Phoenix Raceway is an indication, Tyler Reddick has cause for optimism entering Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at the one-mile track (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Five Toyota drivers combined to lead 298 of 312 laps in that race, with Reddick tying his 23XI Racing team owner, Denny Hamlin, with a race-high 68. Ultimately, Reddick finished 10th behind winner Christopher Bell, who led 50 circuits.

Before this season, Reddick finished third in the spring races of 2022 and 2023, but he says there’s a reason to take his more lackluster results in previous championship races with a grain of salt, given that this is his first time at Phoenix with a chance to win the Cup title.

“I feel like those other years, the season’s just getting rolling (in the spring), and you come here, you go with what you know, and I feel like I’ve ran well. We come back here for Championship Weekend when we haven’t been part of it, that’s our opportunity to try something, to learn something, to take risks with strategy, so it’s not always guaranteed to work out.

“Yeah, it’s been hit-or-miss from that aspect, but certainly when the car’s been very capable, I’ve been able to find ways to get a little bit of speed out of it or just get the speed that the car has out of it and have a potentially good weekend…

“It’s nice to know that when we really focus on this weekend and bring what we know is going to work good, we have speed.”

Reddick comes to Phoenix having qualified for the Championship by winning from the pole Oct. 27 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the same track where he locked up consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series titles in 2018 and 2019.

Reddick is the only Toyota driver to win a Cup race since Bell triumphed at New Hampshire on June 23.

• NASCAR Cup Series Championship
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr
• Age: 44
• Team : No 19 - Bass Pro Shops Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: James Small
• Martin Truex Jr won the Pole Award for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship with a lap of 26718 seconds, 134741 mph
• This is his 25th pole in 693 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his second pole and 17th top-10 start in 2024
• This is his third pole in 38 races at Phoenix Raceway
• Joey Logano (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2024 and his 21st in 32 races at Phoenix Raceway
• Ross Chastain (third) posted his third top-10 start at Phoenix Raceway It is his 11th in 36 races this season
• Carson Hocevar (15th) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Sunday, November 10th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Joey Logano outduels teammate Ryan Blaney for third NASCAR Cup Championship

Joey Logano pulled off a masterful restart and held on for dear life.

Fifty-four laps later, Logano had his third NASCAR Cup Series championship—most among full-time active drivers—by a scant 0.330 seconds over Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney.

On the final restart on Lap 259 of 312 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, Logano drove like a cannon shot from sixth place past Blaney, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and finally race leader and Championship 4 contender William Byron to seize the top spot on Lap 260.

Logano remained out front the rest of the way, though Blaney got as close as 0.167 seconds back over the last 10 laps.

The victory was Logano’s fourth at Phoenix, his fourth of the season and the 36th of his career. As a three-time champion, Logano ties Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart, all NASCAR Hall of Famers.

Only four drivers have more titles: Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jimmie Johnson with seven each and Jeff Gordon with four.

The championship was the third straight for team owner Roger Penske, with Logano winning in 2022 and Blaney claiming the crown last year.

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

“Man, three (championships), 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’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’s team, however, had issues on pit road. The No. 22 Ford lost four spots under caution for the Stage 1 break, and after green-flag stops during the second stage, Patrick Gray from Austin Cindric’s No. 2 team replaced Logano’s jackman, Graham Stoddard, who was ill.

After the final restart, Logano took charge, with considerable help from his spotter.

“Coleman Pressley,” said Logano, who led twice for 107 laps, second to Christopher Bell’s 143. “He was telling me where (Blaney) 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 wrap the bottom as well as I wanted to.

“One-two for Team Penske, three championships in a row since this Next-Gen car (was introduced in 2022). Couldn’t be more proud of everyone at the shop that’s built these things.”

Byron finished third behind Logano and Blaney. Tyler Reddick was last among the Championship 4 drivers in sixth and never was a factor for the win.

After the final restart shook out, Blaney was fourth behind Logano, Byron and Larson. He passed Larson on Lap 277 and Byron on Lap 290. Over the next 22 suspense-filled laps, Blaney got close to Logano’s rear bumper but not close enough to make a move for the lead.

“I had to work really hard to get by the 5 (Larson) and the 24 (Byron). Joey was pretty far away, and I was working really hard to try to get to Joey. I was kind of nervous that if I ended up getting close to him, a lot of my stuff would be burned off of it, and it kind of was. But didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t really wait.

“Yeah, just took too long. The restart didn’t play out for us. I feel like if I came out behind Joey and didn’t have two cars in between us that I had to pass, I would have been able to have a better shot. But just the restart didn’t work out, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Logano followed a strange path to the championship. He was eliminated from the Playoffs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, only to get a second life when the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman failed post-race inspection by not meeting minimum weight.

Logano took full advantage, winning at Las Vegas the following week to earn his place in the Championship 4 Round.

Larson and Bell finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Bubba Wallace, Elliott, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez came home seventh through 10th.

The race was not without its share of comic relief. Coming to a restart after the Stage 1 break, the pace car slid into the sand barrels protecting the entrance to pit road, necessitating a 5 minute 47 second red flag period for cleanup.

After the race ended, Logano looked around in bewilderment.

“Where’s my crew?” Logano asked, then realized that his team was hustling from pit stall No. 24 on the backstretch, the stall assigned by NASCAR after Logano’s car failed pre-race inspection twice.

The final race marked a season of endings. Pole winner Martin Truex Jr. finished 17th in his final race as a full-time driver.

Kyle Busch’s record streak of 19 straight years with at least one Cup victory ended in a 21st-place finish. Logano now holds the longest active streak at 13 years.

Stewart-Haas Racing is ceasing to operate after the end of the race, with 12th-place Noah Gragson finishing highest among the four SHR drivers.

Jeff Striegle called his last race in the booth for the Motor Racing Network (MRN). Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, announced his retirement after 45 years with NASCAR’s exclusive tire maker.

Harrison Burton finished 16th in his final drive for the Wood Brothers. And Fed-Ex sponsored Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the final time.

• Drivers Entered: 40
• Laps Scheduled: 312
• Margin of Victory: 0.330 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 56 Minutes 16 Seconds
• Average Speed: 106.203
• Cautions: 4 for 33 laps
• Lead Changes: 16
• Green Flag Passes: 2,719 (9.7 passes per green flag lap)

• NASCAR Cup Series Championship
• Race Winner: Joey Logano
• Age: 34
• Team : No 22 - Shell Pennzoil Ford
• Owner: Roger Penske
• Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
• Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, his 36th victory in 579 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his fourth victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his fourth victory and 17th top-10 finish in 32 races at Phoenix Raceway
• Ryan Blaney (second) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 18 races at Phoenix Raceway It is his 18th top-10 finish in 2024
• William Byron (third) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 14 races at Phoenix Raceway
• Carson Hocevar (18th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Joey Logano has won the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship
• Carson Hocevar has won the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award
• Chevrolet has won the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturers Championship
• Driver Champion: Joey Logano
• Team: No. 22 Team Penske Ford
• Joey Logano has won his third NASCAR Cup Series Championship (2018, 2022, 2024), becoming the 10th different driver to win three or more championships all-time, and the only active full-time driver to accomplish the feat. Logano is one of 36 drivers to win a title in the series.
• Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the 2024 title.
• Logano finished the 2024 season with four wins, seven top fives, 13 top 10s and three poles.
• During the Playoffs this season, Logano has produced three wins, three top fives and five top 10s.
• Joey Logano, from Middletown, Connecticut, is the first and only driver from the state of Connecticut to win a NASCAR Cup Series championship (2018, 2022, 2024).
• Owner Champion: Roger Penske, Team Penske
• This is Team Penske's fifth NASCAR Cup Series driver championship - Brad Keselowski, 2012; Joey Logano, 2018, 2022; Ryan Blaney, 2023, 2024 – tied with Joe Gibbs Racing (2019, '15, '05, '02, '00) for fifth most all-time in the series.
• This is Team Penske's fifth NASCAR Cup Series owner championship - Brad Keselowski, 2012; Joey Logano, 2018, 2022; Ryan Blaney, 2023, 2024 – tied with Joe Gibbs Racing (2019, '15, '05, '02, '00) for fifth most all-time in the series.
• This is Team Penske's 11th NASCAR national series owner championship (five Cup: 2012, 2018, 2022, 2023 and six Xfinity: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021) – tied with Joe Gibbs Racing for third most all-time.
• Team Penske has led 10 different drivers to Victory Lane for a total of 147 NASCAR Cup Series wins – Mark Donahue, Bobby Allison, Rusty Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric.
• Team Penske started their NASCAR Cup Series program in 1972, making their series debut at Riverside International Raceway with driver Mark Donahue.
• Crew Chief Champion: Paul Wolfe
• Paul Wolfe has won his third NASCAR Cup Series championship: 2012 (Keselowski) and 2022, '24 (Logano).
• Wolfe is one of 43 different Cup Series crew chiefs to win a championship and one of 16 to win multiple titles.
• Wolfe is also one of five different crew chiefs in the NASCAR Cup Series to win titles with multiple drivers; joining crew chiefs Bud Moore (Buck Baker 1957 and Joe Weatherly 1962, '63); Carl Kiekhaefer (Tim Flock 1955 and Buck Baker 1956), Dale Inman (Richard Petty 1964, '67, '71, '72, '74, '75, '79 and Terry Labonte 1984); and Tim Brewer (Cale Yarborough 1978 and Darrell Waltrip 1981).
• Wolfe has 42 career NASCAR Cup Series wins, 29 with Brad Keselowski and 13 with Joey Logano.