By all means, Joey Logano’s title hopes should’ve ended at Charlotte Roval. But as fate would have it, the Penske Star wasn’t going to miss his streak of making the Championship 4 in even-numbered years! Alex Bowman’s No. 48 car was overweight, which resulted in his disqualification from the race and the playoffs. And that right there was the turning point of Logano’s season, which has now allowed him to clinch his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.

A lot certainly could’ve gone wrong for Logano, but just when he needed composure and calm, he used it to his advantage. Even his fiery teammate Ryan Blaney, who was aggressively gaining on him in the last few laps, couldn’t find a way through. As the checkered flag dropped at Phoenix, he knew he had made history by joining an elite company of NASCAR greats.

Joey Logano credits his championship triumph to his entire team

The restart with 55 laps to go in the race was crucial for Joey Logano in bridging the gap between him and his teammate. Knowing that he had a better long-run car, he chased down the leader, William Byron, within two laps, and he had clean air to work with. Even though the #12 came ever so close to nipping on his heels, he took away any opportunity for him to make an aggressive move on him. While Blaney’s late race charge was resilient, Logano’s composure behind the wheel saw him cross the finish line.

This was Team Penske’s third Cup Series triumph in a row, and boss Roger Penske saw his two boys bring him glory with a 1-2 finish. Emotions were running high for Logano as he tried to explain his feelings in words during the post-race interview. “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 and I hold him off. So getting three of them is really special, Marty. What a team, a little bit of adversity throughout the race today.”

“Paul Wolfe I mean, what a crew chief I have; I have the best team. I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I got the best team, and together we were very well-rounded and in control when it matters the most. We got a mentally tough team that can make things happen when it matters. The guys just want it bad. I’m glad we delivered. It was iffy there for a minute, but that restart was really the difference maker, and gosh I’m so proud of the team,” Joey Logano added.

Penske drivers certainly know to turn the heat up during the business end of the season. It is fair to say that they have found the recipe for the secret sauce in getting the best out of the Next-Gen race cars. On the flip side, Blaney certainly had a bittersweet feeling after coming oh so close to winning his second Cup Series title.

Ryan Blaney was spent after battling hard against multiple drivers

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After Ryan Blaney delivered a clutch win, all the fans wanted him to repeat his heroics of the last year when he won the title. Well, he certainly did that—a win at Martinsville, followed by a runner-up finish at Phoenix. The only difference this time around is that his teammate Joey Logano, who was a championship contender, got the better of him.

However, the defining moment for him also came during the restart, when he was crammed up by Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick. While he got by them and even left William Byron in his wake, he was almost spent trying to do the same on the #22 car. “The restart didn’t really work out. Got too far away from me; took me too long. Got past a couple of guys but couldn’t get past Joey. Just ran out of time. Congrats to him, congrats to #22 team. We’ve put together a great playoffs. We’re happy. 1-2 for Roger. Three in a row for Roger. Super amazing for Ford.” He said in the post-race interview.

He further highlighted that had he been clear on the restart and been on the bumper of Logano, he would’ve been in contention to win. “I was kind of nervous that if I ended up getting close to him, a lot of my stuff will be worn off. It kind of was. I didn’t have a choice. It just took too long. The restart didn’t play well for us. I felt like if I came out behind Joey and didn’t have two cars between us, I would have been able to have a better shot. This race didn’t work out.” 

Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing certainly need to pick up pace. Team Penske has won three years in a row, and they just might be out of their reach if the other teams don’t level up.