Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, almost didn’t make it past the Round of 12. He was mathematically eliminated following the race at the Charlotte Roval a month ago, but was added to the Round of 8 when a competitor was disqualified. He then went on to win his way into the Championship 4 by classing the field at Vegas, and to nobody’s surprise, he muscled his way to the front of the field at Phoenix on November 10th, 2024. Fending off charges from his fellow NASCAR Ford driver, Ryan Blaney, Logano secured not only the race win, but wrapped up his third Cup Series championship when the checkers fell.
Logano – the 2018 and 2022 Cup Series champion – took the final green flag in sixth place but rocketed past the competition with ease. That included Blaney, whose No. 12 Mustang was also in the Championship 4, and William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevy Camaro ZL1 and fellow championship contender. As the laps ticked down, Logano hit his marks and outpaced Blaney. At one point, Blaney cut the deficit to just 0.167 seconds, but he ran out of steam when the white flag dropped and finished second, 0.330 seconds back.
“I love the Playoffs, I love it, man,” Logano said. “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 (Blaney). And he had a lot of long-run speed there, and it was all I had there to hold him off.”
He added, “Man, three (championships), that’s really special to get that. What a team. To fight through today, we went through a little bit of adversity throughout the race.”
The championship marked the third straight for NASCAR Ford outfit Team Penske, following Logano’s 2022 victory and Blaney’s win in 2023. Interestingly, Logano had an average finish of 17.11 this year.
It’s also worth noting that the race at Phoenix was the final one for NASCAR Ford team Stewart-Haas Racing, which has now officially shuttered. It was also the final race for Harrison Burton in the No. 21 Mustang – he will return to the Xfinity Series in 2025.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 312 | 107 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 2 | 17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 312 | 12 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 3 | 8 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Axalta Chevrolet | 312 | 19 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 312 | 13 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Interstate Batteries/DEWALT Toyota | 312 | 143 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 10 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 312 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 29 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota | 312 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 312 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 24 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 312 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 10 | 34 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 312 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Toyota | 312 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 21 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Nitro Circus Ford | 312 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 13 | 11 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 312 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 14 | 16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 312 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 27 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 312 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 16 | 9 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 312 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 17 | 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 312 | 9 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 15 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 312 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 3 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light Chevrolet | 312 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 32 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Boozy Jerky! Ford | 311 | 1 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 21 | 25 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 3CHI Chevrolet | 311 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 19 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 311 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 22 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 311 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 39 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Texas A&M University Ford | 311 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 25 | 26 | 16 | Derek Kraus | Western States Flooring Chevrolet | 311 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 23 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | Carvana Toyota | 310 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 36 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow Chevrolet | 310 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 13 | 7 | Justin Haley | Parity Week By Gainbridge Chevrolet | 310 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 12 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 310 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 30 | 18 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mobil 1 Toyota | 310 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 31 | 35 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's/Fleetguard Ford | 309 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 32 | 20 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Mighty Fire Breaker Ford | 309 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 33 | 30 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fry's/Silk Chevrolet | 309 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 31 | 15 | Kaz Grala # | Meat N' Bone Ford | 308 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 35 | 37 | 44 | * JJ Yeley(i) | Chevrolet | 306 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 38 | 66 | * Chad Finchum(i) | 2ONE Pouches Ford | 302 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 37 | 33 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 302 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 38 | 40 | 50 | * Jeb Burton(i) | Luxedo Chevrolet | 294 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 39 | 28 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 40 | 6 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 1 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
Comment
Logano had the Penske model season mid until the last four races. He is literally the least deserving three times champion now being the champion means nothing. Under the old and better playoff system Christopher Bell would be the rightful champion