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Joey Logano is a two-timer; a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion that is.

The Team Penske driver won Sunday’s season-ending race and that gave him the 2022 title.

Logano, 32, who was the 2018 champion, was a four-race winner this season. The victory was the 31st of his career.

He led five times for 188 laps.

“It felt like it took too long to get back to this point, but it’s so special to win championships.  It’s what you want,” Logano said. “It’s the only thing I race for.  Race wins are nice, but championships is what it’s all about.  We were in great position there.”

Logano started the day competing in the four-driver championship round with Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing, Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing and Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports.

Chastain finished third in the race and second in the championship. Bell finished 10th and third in the championship. Elliott, who was crashed by Chastain, finished 28th and two laps down.

The emotions are surprisingly good,” said Chastain, who earned his first two NASCAR Cup Series wins this season (at the Circuit of The Americas road course and at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

“I’m not sad, I’m not upset. … I actually can’t believe how good I feel. I’m so proud and so happy to get this first shot in the championship,” he added.

Logano started from the pole and led the first 87 laps. Cole Custer then led three laps as he stayed out on the track while others pitted under caution before Logano came back to retake the lead on Lap 91. He would hold the lead until teammate Blaney took the lead when Logano was forced to save fuel in the final laps of the Stage 2.

Logano stayed in the top five as the final stage got under way but his domination had ended.

But just after a restart with about 30 laps to go, he moved from third to the lead.

From there, he held off teammate Blaney and a charging Chastain to get the victory.

The margin of victory was .3 seconds over Blaney and 1.2 over Chastain.

Bell started the race shortly after learning the Coy Gibbs, the son of team owner Joe Gibbs had died at the age of 49. Coy Gibbs’ death came just hours after his son Ty won the Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix.

Early in the final stage, Bell radioed his pit box, saying he thought his engine was about to blow as he ran top 10. His crew chief said engine data showed no damage and Bell pressed on.

With 63 laps to go, Bell pitted from sixth place – one spot behind Chastain and four behind Logano, who was second.

A lap later, Chastain pitted. The stop was a long one.

A lap later, in came Logano.

When the pitting cycled through, Logano was fourth, Bell fifth – and right on Logano’s rear bumper – and Chastain eighth.

On Lap 271 of the 312-lapper, the yellow flag waved. Logano came out of the pits third. Chastain was eighth. But Bell who entered the final four by winning a week ago, had a disastrous 19-second pit stop, fell to 15th for the restart.

Elliott looked to be in a good spot early in the final stage as he was running top six on a restart on Lap 200. But he on the restart he was spun by Chastain. Elliott, the 2020 champion, made contact with the wall. He headed to the pits, his crew went to work on his damaged suspension and Elliott came back out a lap down and with six other lapped cars in front of him.

His damaged car continued on but it was well off the pace.

On Lap 237, Elliott had a chance to pay Chastain back but opted to let him pass without incident.

“I’m not sure, I’m not sure,” Elliott said about the incident with him and Chastain. “Looking forward to the offseason and really proud of our team for the fight we put in today. Like we just kind of peaked right before we crashed, got our car driving pretty good, just had our best pit stop of the day so that was all solid, and we were right there next to the 22 [Logano].

“Thought we had a shot at it all the way up until we didn’t.”

(This story will be updated shortly)

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NASCAR Cup Series Race – 35th Annual NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race

Phoenix Raceway

1. (1)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 312.
2. (2)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 312.
3. (25)  Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 312.
4. (3)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 312.
5. (7)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 312.
6. (8)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 312.
7. (22)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 312.
8. (21)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 312.
9. (4)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 312.
10. (17)  Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 312.
11. (14)  Austin Cindric #, Ford, 312.
12. (16)  AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 312.
13. (15)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 312.
14. (30)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 312.
15. (12)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 312.
16. (9)  Cole Custer, Ford, 312.
17. (10)  Daniel Hemric(i), Toyota, 312.
18. (27)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 312.
19. (6)  Harrison Burton #, Ford, 312.
20. (13)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 312.
21. (19)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 312.
22. (23)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 311.
23. (11)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 311.
24. (28)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 311.
25. (20)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 311.
26. (32)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 311.
27. (26)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 311.
28. (5)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 310.
29. (31)  Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 309.
30. (34)  Cody Ware, Ford, 308.
31. (33)  BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 307.
32. (29)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 307.
33. (35)  Garrett Smithley(i), Ford, 304.
34. (24)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 304.
35. (18)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, Electrical, 270.
36. (36)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 84.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  104.757 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 58 Mins, 42 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.301 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  6 for 39 laps.

Lead Changes:  11 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   J. Logano (P) 1-87;C. Custer 88-90;J. Logano (P) 91-158;R. Blaney 159-187;J. Logano (P) 188;R. Blaney 189-251;A. Allmendinger(i) 252;A. Bowman 253;R. Blaney 254-270;J. Logano (P) 271;C. Briscoe 272-282;J. Logano (P) 283-312.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Joey Logano (P) 5 times for 187 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 109 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 11 laps; Cole Custer 1 time for 3 laps; Alex Bowman 1 time for 1 lap; AJ Allmendinger(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,12,14,5,19,9,24,4,8,2

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,22,19,14,4,20,24,5,8,2

 

 

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