{"id":288396,"date":"2024-11-11T09:09:46","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T15:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=288396"},"modified":"2024-11-11T09:09:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T15:09:47","slug":"joey-logano-secures-third-cup-series-title-at-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=288396","title":{"rendered":"Joey Logano secures third Cup Series title at Phoenix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a><\/a>NASCAR \u2013 Perhaps there was \u201csomething\u201d that seemed almost inevitable about Joey Logano\u2019s impressive run to his third NASCAR Cup Championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 34-year-old Connecticut native, father-of-three and perpetual race and title contender once again proved why competitors can never take him lightly and shouldn\u2019t count him out. He is not one to mince words and is absolutely convinced he can win every single time he climbs into his No. 22 Team Penske Ford to race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That confidence and bravado powers him and his team. And it\u2019s been, well, very effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew we were capable. This team and myself and the more pressure I could put on myself, the better I\u2019m going to be,\u201d\u00a0Logano said Sunday from the Champion\u2019s Stage.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know what that is, but it seems like the playoffs are always better for the 22 and it\u2019s not just myself that thrives under pressure, it\u2019s my whole team. And it\u2019s contagious. If we can bring that confidence and believe it, we are very dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really great group all the way through, and our pit crew delivered in the end when it needed to,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m so fortunate to be in this car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before Sunday\u2019s 312-lapper for the title, Logano\u2019s team was penalized for failing initial technical inspection<\/a> and lost his choice of pit stall for the big race. On Sunday, he had to overcome a slow first pit stop and lost a vital crewman to illness mid-race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then ultimately, Logano \u2014 who led two times for 107 laps \u2014 had to hold off a hard-charging defending series champion<\/a> \u2014 his Penske teammate \u2014 Ryan Blaney in the closing laps at Phoenix t<\/a>o have the chance to hoist the Bill France Cup for a third time (2018, 2022, 2024) \u2013 most among all active full-time drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the exuberance Logano showed on the Phoenix victory stage, taking his young family on track to the flag stand with him to retrieve that important championship checkered flag, was heartfelt and heart-spoken. His very presence in the Championship 4 was a \u201cbonus\u201d chance to race for the championship \u2014 restored to the title chase eligibility following the Round of 8 elimination race when Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Alex Bowman was\u00a0dropped from the field and Logano re-inserted<\/a>. A four-race winner this season, he did not waste the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The combination of Logano and team owner Roger Penske presents one of the most powerful pairings in NASCAR history. This is the third consecutive championship for the NASCAR Hall of Famer owner Penske \u2014 with Logano (2022) Blaney (2023) and Logano (2024) \u2014 and the fifth title of Penske\u2019s career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Logano and Blaney one-two finish even gave Penske a new accolade \u2013 rare at this point in his career of mega-accomplishment \u2014 marking the first time in the championship team\u2019s history it had finished one-two in the NACAR Cup Series standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just one thing; it\u2019s the people, the ones that have worked so hard with us,\u201d Penske said when asked what it was about his team\u2019s perpetual run to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as for that driver proudly, jubilantly hoisting a trophy Sunday night?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen he puts the helmet on, there\u2019s nobody that gets after it like he does,\u201d Penske said, smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just this season, Penske\u2019s organization won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the WEC title, the Indianapolis 500 and now claims the NASCAR Cup Series title. Again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an ever-mounting list of accomplishments, and even the team\u2019s competitors appreciate this team\u2019s impact on the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it shows you not only what Joey\u2019s capable of behind the wheel but the whole team, the Penske organization,\u201d said four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon, whose driver William Byron finished third in the title chase.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoey is a heckuva champion. I knew when he got in [to the Championship 4] he\u2019d be a major threat. You can\u2019t ever count him out and he\u2019s obviously very experienced and very mature behind the wheel. And that team is obviously a very strong team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blaney, who ultimately finished a slight 0.330-second behind his teammate Logano was disappointed to not become the first back-to-back series champion since Jimmie Johnson\u2019s five straight from 2006-2010. But even in defeat recognized what the efforts meant for the team \u2013 said about the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of our effort, proud of our year and at least a Penske car won the championship,\u201d Blaney said.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, I want to win, but if we can\u2019t, we want the 22 to win and Roger and Ford to get another championship. A Penske 1-2 in the championship, a lot to be proud of and it\u2019s really all we talked about was how great it would be for us two to battle it up and that\u2019s what it ended up with, I just didn\u2019t have the track position at the end. I\u2019m really happy for them and for Roger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoey is one of the best ever, I feel like, and he didn\u2019t make any mistakes,\u201d Blaney continued. \u201cThat group does a good job of knowing what they need to do all the time and a testament to that whole team to rise to the occasion and Joey in particular to know what he needs to do behind the wheel to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASCAR \u2013 Perhaps there was \u201csomething\u201d that seemed almost inevitable about Joey Logano\u2019s impressive run to his third NASCAR Cup Championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. The 34-year-old Connecticut native, father-of-three and perpetual race and title contender once again proved why competitors can never take him lightly and shouldn\u2019t count him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":288397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=288396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288398,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288396\/revisions\/288398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/288397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=288396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=288396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=288396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}