Joey Logano started to lose pace at the end and his teammate Penske Ryan Blaney was quickly approaching in what appeared to be a dramatic showdown in Phoenix. Blaney went ahead Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson And William Byron before closing the gap between them to 2.3 seconds with Logano.
He almost reached his partner's rear bumper, but never made it, as he Logano took the checkered flag in first place and captured his third NASCAR Cup title. For Penske, they remain undefeated in the current era of NASCAR, having won the last three titles with the Gen-7 car.
“I love the playoffs,” Logano said. “I love it. What a race! What a battle from team Penske at the end. I had a good restart and was able to pass the No. 12. And he had a lot of speed on the long runs, that's it. was everything. I had to hold it back.”
“Three of them, it's really special to have. What a team. To fight and win today, we went through a bit of adversity throughout the race. I have the best team I don't know if I'm the best driver, but I have the best team and together we are very complete, we can be there when it matters most. We have a mentally strong team that can make things happen when it matters. it matters.
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang
Photo: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images
The final gap was 0.330 seconds at the finish, with Blaney very close to winning his second consecutive title. William Byron finished third, while Tyler Reddick was furthest back among the title-vying drivers in sixth.
The AMR security team tended to Blaney after the race and he appeared exhausted after the struggle.
“Yeah, I’m really exhausted and I just couldn’t make it,” he said. “I tried as hard as I could, but the restart didn't go well and he got too far away from me. I struggled to pass a few drivers and never managed to pass Joey .Yeah, I lacked speed.” time.”
“But congratulations to him, congratulations to the No. 22 team… They had a great last race and we're happy. If we have to race against anyone, I'm happy it's against them for the championship, and happy to achieve a double for Roger [Penske, propietario]three in a row for Roger, super amazing, and Ford.”
The final stop of the 2024 NASCAR Cup race in Phoenix
Blaney and Logano won a stage each at Phoenix, but no stage points are awarded to the Championship 4 drivers. At the start of the final stage, Reddick made a big four-way move in a desperate attempt to gain ground . He did it from the outside, but there was contact and it almost ended in tears. Reddick hit with Chris Buescher And Chase Elliottwho were about to collide, but somehow avoided it. The move put Reddick in the top five.
What followed was a long green flag race during which most of the leaders stopped with 75 laps to go. Byron waited and stopped ten laps later. However, the timing couldn't have been more perfect, because Zane Smith It crashed and yellow flags were displayed.
Byron inherited the lead as the rest of the field prepared to change tires, and he had two of Hendrick's teammates right behind him. However, Christopher Bell He quickly shook it off and stood alongside Byron, fighting side by side for the lead.
This gave an opportunity to Logano, who managed to pass both with a three-way maneuver. Blaney was not so lucky and found himself stuck in traffic. It took him a little while, but he finally managed to pass Larson with 35 laps to go and Byron with 22 laps to go.
Clearly the fastest car on track, the 2023 champion quickly closed the gap on Logano, but the No. 22 defended masterfully to keep him at bay.
The race, although relatively calm, was also briefly interrupted by a strange incident between the first two stages, when the pilot car He crashed into the sand barrels at the entrance to pit road.
