It’s been quite a week for Joey Logano and the No. 22 team, hasn’t it? When the checkered flag waved at the Charlotte Roval, the Team Penske driver, Joey Logano, accepted that his title hopes were over. However, Alex Bowman’s disqualification gave him a second lifeline in the NASCAR Cup Series, and boy did he cash on it in a big way! If there’s one driver the rest of the title contenders didn’t want to see in the Round of Eight, it’s Logano, and he justified their fear by winning the 2024 South Point 400.

With Logano securing his third victory of the season, crew chief Paul Wolfe has revealed the team’s goal going into the remaining races. The two-time Cup Series winner has a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4, and can now rest easy before beginning his preparations for Phoenix Raceway.

Joey Logano’s crew chief has his eyes on the prize

Fuel-saving. That’s what it came down to at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. If there’s one team that excels in such scenarios, it’s Joey Logano and his No. 22 crew. The Team Penske driver won the 2024 Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway under similar circumstances, outlasting his rivals instead of outracing them to get the result. It was quite a gamble by crew chief Paul Wolfe, who opted to let Joey Logano stay out rather than pit in Stage 3, knowing that it would be the most effective strategy to hold off Christopher Bell, who had the faster car. The strategy paid off as even though the Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 151 laps, he couldn’t get past a driver who was rock bottom in the playoff standings going into the race.

Reflecting on the result, an elated Paul Wolfe told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race, “We’ve been able to do some special things like this in the past and when you continually do it, it’s not luck. This was a team effort, a team win today. I’m sure we’ve made a lot of people upset with this win today, maybe weren’t expecting it. But ultimately, everyone did their part and it doesn’t say who was the fastest car on the trophy. It says who won and who’s going to Phoenix and that’s us.” Revealing the team’s goal after securing a memorable victory, the crew chief went on to say, “I don’t see any reason we can’t go to Phoenix and win that race.”

For the superstitious fans, Joey Logano’s victory reiterated their even-number theory, with the 34-year-old making it to Championship 4 in every even-number year since 2014. Phoenix Raceway is a track that Team Penske excels at, and there is a sense of camaraderie and optimism in the No. 22 team after the result in Vegas. Sharing that belief is Logano, who said, “There’s no other group that I’d rather go to battle with, I can promise you that. Not one other team on this field that I would rather have than what the 22 team is right now.”

Joey Logano hasn’t had the best of seasons from a consistency standpoint, but that wouldn’t matter to the Connecticut native. The driver has performed when it counts the most and is now in contention for the ultimate prize in the final race of the season. He is joint-second for most wins, tying with Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Christopher Bell, but the timing of his victories has made all the difference. Two of his three wins this season have come in the playoffs, further solidifying his status as a clutch playoff performer. With six Championship 4 appearances in 11 years, it’s fair to say that Logano is doing something right, and given his experience, he will be one of the favorites for the trophy.

Logano gives new nickname to Paul Wolfe after Las Vegas display

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The victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway wouldn’t have been possible without Joey Logano’s crew chief Paul Wolfe. The 47-year-old’s gutsy strategy call helped the Team Penske driver win the South Point 400 against all the odds, earning him a ticket in the race for the championship. Ultimately, six-tenths of a second separated Logano from Christopher Bell at the end of the race, a margin that wouldn’t have existed if the 34-year-old hadn’t stayed out for the entirety of Stage 3.

Revealing a new nickname for his crew chief, Joey Logano said in the post-race interview, “When there’s an opportunity like that at the end of the race where there’s a long run and you’re able to make good mileage, that’s one of our strengths that we have with the Ford so there’s an opportunity there to run it long. And when you put it together with Paul Wolfe, an incredible crew chief, we call him Big Ball Paul now. He really makes it happen there, our engineers calculating everything…”

If the past is anything to go by, Joey Logano has won his last two championships by winning the opening Round of Eight race. Despite two races remaining at Homestead-Miami and Martinsville, the outcome of those fixtures won’t have any bearing on the Team Penske driver, who will be using the two extra weeks in preparation for Phoenix. With ‘Big Ball Paul’ on his side, Logano has everything he needs to lift the Bill France Cup on November 10. All he needs to do is grab the opportunity with both hands to secure the third Cup Series title of his career.