The list of three-time NASCAR champs has a new name.
Joey Logano.
The Man with a Mulligan used it well, winning Sunday’s championship race at Phoenix to win his third Cup Series championship and a third straight for team owner Roger Penske.
It’s quite a list of three-time champs who came before Logano: Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart. Four others have more: Jeff Gordon with four, and Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson with seven each.
Let’s review the championship race.
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1. A Team Penske pair led the way
Joey Logano darted to the front after a late-race restart and held on. “Holding on” included keeping teammate Ryan Blaney in his mirror, which didn’t look like it would be easy, as Blaney gained lots of ground with each lap but couldn’t close the deal in the closing laps.
“I love the playoffs,” Logano told the national TV audience afterward.
No kidding. Sunday’s win was the third playoff win over the past 10 weeks for a driver and team that finished 15th in the regular-season points race.
“What a race. What a Team Penske battle there at the end. It’s really special,” Logano continued. “I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I have the best team.”
He also needed some luck. Remember, after the sixth race of the playoffs and the end of the Round of 12, Logano was toast. He was sitting ninth while the top eight were advancing.
Then Alex Bowman’s car came in light at the post-race scales, handing him a penalty and advancing Logano into eighth in the current playoff standings and keeping his hopes alive. He obviously made the most of it.
2. Title contenders finish 1, 2, 3
Of the four championship finalists, they finished 1, 2, 3 and … 6th.
William Byron finished third, behind Blaney, and Tyler Reddick finished sixth, keeping team co-owner Michael Jordan from adding a NASCAR championship to this six NBA titles.
It’s the 10th time in 11 years under this format that the Cup champ also won the final race.
3. Sounds of silence
The final checkered flag of the NASCAR season always signals the start of a couple quiet months.
It won’t be too long after the holidays that the ignitions are flipped and it all begins again. As usual, it starts at Daytona, and as usual, it doesn’t start with NASCAR, but IMSA and the Rolex 24.
The three-day pre-Rolex test weekend at Daytona will be Jan. 17-19, with the Jan. 25-26 Rolex 24 highlighting a busy long weekend of IMSA racing.
As for NASCAR, 2025 begins with the Busch Light Clash, Feb. 2, at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. Two weeks later is the 67th running of the Daytona 500, which will culminate five days of NASCAR racing at Daytona to officially open the regular season.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Championship Race: 3 takeaways from Phoenix as Joey Logano wins
