Joey Logano has won his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Logano won at Phoenix, holding off teammate Ryan Blaney in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway to earn the title. Logano’s previous championships were in 2018 and 2022, both with Team Penske.
Logano made a big move on a restart with just over 50 laps to go when he cut through the dogleg to move from fifth to first and held on to win the race. Logano led 107 laps.
“I love the playoffs, I love it, man,” Logano said to NBC Sports pit reporters after the race. “What a race, what a Team Penske battle there at the end. Had a good restart, was able to get in front of the No. 12, had good long-run speed and that was all I had to hold him off. To get three of them, that’s pretty special.”
With his third championship, Logano joins Lee Petty, David Pearson, Tony Stewart, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough as three-time NASCAR Cup Series champions.
This is the fifth NASCAR Cup Series title for Team Penske, which has won the last three championships.
Logano won three races in 2024, including the first race in the Round of 8 at Las Vegas to earn a spot in the Championship 4. He advanced to the Round of 8 after Alex Bowman was disqualified from the Charlotte race in October, the final race in the Round of 12, for not making minimum weight in post-race inspection.
He also won at Nashville Superspeedway to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
Logano beat out Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Tyler Reddick to win the championship.
Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at achastain@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Joey Logano wins third NASCAR Cup championship