Joey Logano is in a unique position. The driver could deliver a Cup Series three-peat for Team Penske at Phoenix Raceway, cementing their dominance in the Next-Gen era. His teammate Ryan Blaney, who is the reigning champion, will also be in contention for the Bill France Cup, while Tyler Reddick and William Byron occupy the remaining two Championship 4 spots. With the stakes higher than ever, the Connecticut native is hoping to avoid the controversy that occurred at Martinsville.

Despite accusations of race manipulation flying around, Joey Logano has thrown shade at NASCAR for not taking action against the No. 24 Chevy team, who ultimately benefited from Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain’s assistance at the 2024 Xfinity 500.

Joey Logano hopes for a clean race in Phoenix

The penultimate race of the Cup Series season had no shortage of drama and controversy. Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, and Bubba Wallace, along with their respective teams, were punished by NASCAR for race manipulation, resulting in the suspension of key personnel as well as a $600,000 overall fine. Driving under the Chevrolet umbrella, the Trackhouse and Richard Childress Racing drivers were found guilty of blocking incoming traffic from making the pass over William Byron, who was competing for a spot in the Championship 4.

While the sanctioning body has punished those involved, Byron remains in contention at Phoenix Raceway under controversial circumstances. When asked by Bob Pockrass how the penalties could impact the final race of the season, Joey Logano replied, “It’s kind of hard to say. The beneficiaries of it are still in and nothing happened. You tell me if it was good enough or not. Did it work or did it not? Was it worth it? I don’t know, I’m not NASCAR. I’m not the person that can make the call on that stuff. Just driving cars. You just hope everyone races fairly.”

In many ways, NASCAR’s punishment was also meant to serve as a reminder to other drivers to not attempt a similar feat in the winner-takes-all-race at Phoenix. However, William Byron ultimately benefitted from the so-called “deal,” and escaped unscathed despite his controversial sixth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.

Unsurprisingly, Joey Logano feels hard done by, given that the rest of the Championship 4 contenders secured race wins to earn their shot at the title, while the Hendrick Motorsports driver received help from fellow Chevy drivers.

As he has done so often in the past, Joey Logano will hope to pull off one more clutch performance in the final race of the season. The 34-year-old has the experience of performing at the biggest race of the season, having lifted the championship twice already, in 2018 and 2022. While his season might not have been the most dominant this year, Logano has performed when it mattered the most to continue his even-year streak. Could he go on to win the title, just as he did in 2018 and 2022? Time will tell.

Logano dismisses ‘lucky’ claims ahead of championship race

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In the last 10 years, Joey Logano has made it to Championship 4 a staggering six times. The Connecticut native has firmly established himself as one of NASCAR’s modern greats, highlighting the importance of consistency and hard work to secure results on the racetrack. Despite securing just three wins this season, the Team Penske driver has refuted claims that he was lucky to have made it this far, as Alex Bowman’s disqualification earned him a spot in the Round of Eight.

Explaining how he and his team found a way to remain in the title race, Joey Logano said, “If we’re all supposed to be playing on an equal playing field and they (No. 48 team) pushed it too far, you’re going to get dinged for it. We all push it far and however it happened, I don’t know. But they went too far and NASCAR had to put the foot down. We were next in line. Does that make us lucky? No, we were next in line for a reason and we had to race against a car that wasn’t legal. We had the spot the whole time.”

In a format that rewards consistency, making it to Championship 4 is impossible without earning a spot amongst NASCAR’s best. Logano has secured wins at key moments during the ongoing Cup Series campaign, whether it was at the Nashville Superspeedway, the opening playoff race at Atlanta, or the Round of Eight fixture in Las Vegas.

Given the circumstances, he has done more than enough to earn his place at Phoenix Raceway in the final race of the season. All he needs to do is perform one more time to lift the silverware on the grandest stage of them all.