Joey Logano’s second NASCAR Cup Series title may have actually been clinched when he won the pole on Saturday.
By starting out front, Logano determined the pace of the race, leading five times for 188 laps to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway and claim the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship for Team Penske.
“Thank you,” Logano radioed back to his crew. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
It’s the first time in Team Penske history that team owner Roger Penske has won the NASCAR Cup Series Champion and the NTT IndyCar Series Championship in the same season. Will Power won his second IndyCar Series title for Team Penske on September 11 at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca.
“Great job, guys,” team owner Roger Penske radioed to his winning team. “Great job, everyone.”
It’s Team Penske’s third NASCAR Cup Series title. Brad Keselowski won the Cup Series championship in 2012 and Logano won his first in 2018.
He becomes Ford’s first two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion since David Pearson in 1966, 1968 and 1969.
The mood was somewhat tempered after the somber news that Joe Gibbs Racing Vice Chairman Coy Gibbs had passed away in his sleep while in his hotel room at the Wigwam Resort in nearby Litchfield, Arizona earlier this morning. Gibbs’ son, Ty, won the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship by winning Saturday’s race at Phoenix.
The official announcement of Gibbs’ death came at 3:02 p.m. Eastern Time, just a few minutes before the start of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.
The only drama at the end of the race was whether Logano or Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney was going to win the race. Further behind was Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, one of the four NASCAR Championship Four contenders.
Logano’s No. 22 Ford defeated Blaney’s No. 12 Ford by 0.301-of-a-second. Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet was third followed by Chase Briscoe’s Ford and Kevin Harvick’s Ford.
The other two Championship Four contenders including Christopher Bell in 10th and Chase Elliott in 28th after he was involved in an earlier crash with Chastain.
“We’re champions again,” Logano said. “It’s such a big deal to win these championships. It impacts so many people’s lives.
“My condolences to the Gibbs Family. That was terrible news today.
“I knew going into this season we were going to win the championship. I was very confidence, and I was never this ready for the championship race. It’s so special.
“I just want to celebrate.”
It was after Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick spun just one lap after the green flag to start the final stage that delivered one of the key moments of the race.
It was on lap 200 when the first of the four contenders for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship had a major issue. Elliott’s Chevrolet got hit from behind by another Championship Four driver, Chastain. The sent Elliott’s Chevrolet spinning and into the inside retaining wall inside turn one.
Chastain appeared to have the lane and held his position as Elliott came down on the No. 1 Chevrolet to start the spin and potentially doom his chances for the championship.
Elliott’s crew was able to repair his Chevrolet and get him back out, losing just one lap and running 30th.
He would later fall two laps down and essentially, out of the fight for the championship.
“Try to do the best that you can, we will try to work with it and make it better on the next stop,” crew chief Alan Gustafson told Elliott over the team’s radio.
With 108 laps to go, it was Blaney and Briscoe leading the pack. Blaney got the position in front of Briscoe, Logano, William Byron, Chastain, and Bell.
Bell radioed to his crew that his engine was blowing up with 103 laps to the checkered flag. But the car appeared to be running competitive laps and was eighth at the time.
Bell pitted on lap 250 of the 312-lap race. He asked for more front turn on his car. Chastain decided to come down pit road one lap later.
Logano and Blaney also came down the pits on the next lap, putting AJ Allmendinger in the lead. Logano’s crew delivered a flawless stop, but Bell was able to gain on Logano, pulling to the back of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford.
With 58 laps to go, Bell had dramatically improved his chance of winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Meanwhile, Blaney was continuing to lead the race by 1.826 over Briscoe.
Elliott made his final pit stop and fell three laps down to the field with 47 laps to go.
The sixth caution of the race came after Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet was hit from behind by McDowell, spun and hit the wall. He was running 15th in his first race back since sitting out the Playoff races following a concussion from a crash at Texas Motor Speedway on September 25.
Bell, Chastain and Logano all came down pit road for another pit stop. Bell was out in 19.8 when a crew member got his hand stuck in the spindle of the left-rear tire. Chastain was in and out in 10.8 and Logano another fast stop in 10.5 to stay in front of other championship contenders.
With 33 laps to go, Briscoe was the leader next to Blaney. Logano was in third alongside Harvick. Chastain was back in seventh when the green flag waved.
Logano got a good run out of the second turn to open the gap on Chastain. Logano passed Blaney for second and Briscoe was in the lead.
Logano was in the lead coming out of Turn 2 and began to pull away with 28 to go.
With 17 laps to go, Chastain was in third place, 2.63-seconds behind race leader Logano.
STAGE ONE
Just 40 minutes after getting the unbelievable news that Joe Gibbs Racing Vice Chairman Coy Gibbs had died, the championship race was underway.
Logano started on the pole and used the clean air to pull away from the field. Other drivers at the start tried to short cut the dogleg to advance position.
30 laps into the race, Logano led Blaney by 1.818-seconds. The only other Championship Four driver in the top five was Elliott, five-seconds back in fifth place. Bell was 13th and Chastain 14th.
At lap 50, Logano continued to enjoy a sizable lead as he made his way through traffic.
Logano won the first stage ahead of teammate Blaney. Briscoe’s Ford was third followed by Larson and Martin Truex, Jr.
Elliott was sixth, with joining Logano as the only two Championship Four drivers in the top-six. Bell went from 17th to 11th.
It was Logano’s fifth stage win at Phoenix, a series high.
Logano led the field down pit road for the first stop. Bell was out in 10.4, Chastain in 10.8, Elliott in 10.02 but nobody was faster than Logano’s 9.9-second pit stop to win the race off pit road.
Larson gained two positions and Blaney lost five during the pit stop sequence.
STAGE TWO
Logano got another clean start to begin the second stage. Briscoe and Larson were battling for second place. Bell and Elliott were side-by-side fighting for sixth position.
The first on-track caution of the race came in a crash involving Rickey Stenhouse and Landon Cassill in Turn 2. Cassill’s car was loose and backed into the wall. Stenhouse locked up his tires and hit Cassill’s car. The crash was on Lap 85.
Logano led the field down pit road on Lap 87. Bell’s stop was 10.1, Chastain’s was 10.0, Elliott was in and out in 11.1 and Logano was in and out in 10.2 seconds.
Logano lost the lead to Erik Jones, who gained 13 positions by changing just two tires instead of four.
Logano lined up behind Jones on the restart and Logano retook the lead by the end of the lap.
Larson moved up to second ahead of Jones, Blaney and Truex.
The Championship Four at that point were Logano first, Chastain seventh, Elliott 10th and Bell 11th.
Bell had a loose car on Lap 93 but was able to keep his Toyota off the wall.
On lap 100, Chastain was up to sixth after starting 25th.
By lap 135, however, Blaney had caught up to the back of Logano’s Ford, just 0.2-of-a-second behind the race leader.
Elliott changed strategies by making a greens flag pit stop on Lap 155 to change tires and add fuel. This allow him to go for speed instead of saving fuel, but dropped Elliott’s Chevrolet back to 26th, one-lap down, but he was running one-second a lap faster.
Elliott unlapped himself on Lap 170 when he passed Blaney, the leader.
Elliott moved up to 16th place with seven to go in the stage while Logano continued to try to make it end of the stage without pitting.
Blaney won Stage Two but was having an issue at the end of the stage. Logano was second, Truex third, Briscoe fourth and Harvick fifth. Bell was sixth, Chastain 11th and Elliott 12th.
Blaney led the field down pit lane during the stage break. Bell was in and out in 10.7 seconds, Chastain in 10.5, Elliott in 10.5 and Logano in 11 seconds. He lost three positions but was still the highest of the Championship Four contenders.
Blaney was the leader with Briscoe on the outside. Logano was fifth, Elliott sixth, Chastain ninth and Bell 11th.
The restart came with 120 laps to go to determine the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Nobody was going to catch Logano as he easily won his second career NASCAR Cup Series Championship.