AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Eliminated from the playoffs at the end of the second round, Joey Logano received a second chance when another competitor was disqualified.
He pounced on the opportunity.
Logano was added to the round of eight following Alex Bowman’s disqualification and immediately went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win the third-round opener. It made Logano the first driver locked into Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway with three weeks to prepare his Ford for the title run.
He capitalized with his his third NACAR Cup Series championship, using a near-flawless drive to hold off teammate Ryan Blaney and give Team Penske its third major motorsports title in less than a month and third consecutive NASCAR title.
Logano actually called his shot after qualifying second Saturday when he confidently acknowledged it was his Cup Series title to lose.
“Yeah, I do. I feel like our car is strong. We got them down now,” Logano boasted. “We just have to put our foot on their throats. We feel pretty strong about our team, and these type of pressure situations we feel really solid about as far as our team in these moments.”
It may not have been how boss Roger Penske would have phrased it, but it showed the team owner how relentless his team leader can be.
“I might have used different words, but that’s OK,” Penske said, “when you win, you can say whatever you want, I guess.”
Logano held off Blaney over the final 20 laps to beat him for the Cup series title by 0.330 seconds. Blaney was trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010.
Instead, Logano became the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more championships. Kyle Busch is the only other active driver with multiple titles.
“I love the playoffs, I love it man,” Logano said. “What a team, what a Penske battle there at the end. Three of them? That’s truly special.”
It was the first time in Team Penske history the organization finished 1-2 in the championship. And, it came after Penske’s sports car team in IMSA won the title last month and his World Endurance Championship team won the title last weekend in Bahrain.
Roger Penske said he worried in the closing laps his two drivers would crash into each other, ending the title hopes for both. He also praised longtime sponsor Shell-Pennzoil, which was on Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden’s car for his victory in May for Penske.
Penske also deferred taking too much of the credit for the team success.
“It’s all about the people,” Penske said. “My name might be on the door, but it’s all about the people who make the difference and we sure have them on this team.”
