The Winner Takes It All NASCAR Cup Championship race took place at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday (11/10) and it was Joey Logano who won the race and the 2024 title.
Martin Truex Jr. started the race from the pole position in his final race as a full-time Cup Series driver. Joey started the race from second place on the front row. Martin hit and took the lead with Joe right behind him. There was a one-car incident in the second lap of the race when Ty Gibbs went hard into the outside wall.
Martin held the lead for several more laps on the restart. Joey passed him to take the lead on lap 10. He held the lead for the next 54 laps, which included winning the first stage of the race. Joey had a bad pit stop during the caution period that followed the end of the stage and lost four points and the lead on pit road. That caution period became a red-flag period when the pace car hit the barrels at the end of pit road while trying to exit the track for the restart.
Joy spent the second stage adjusting to his car and trying to regain lost positions on the track. His teammate (and defending 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion) Ryan Blaney was able to take the lead at the end of the stage and was the winner of the second stage.
Pit’s strategy looked like it might work in the third round. Three of the championship contenders, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick, hit pit road at the same time. William Byron stayed on track, opting to run longer before pitting. It looked like the plan might be successful when a caution flag came up shortly after William pitted. The other three cars had to go on fresh tires and William stayed on track to take the lead. However, when the race restarted, it only took Joe six laps to overtake and regain the lead. William’s car just didn’t have the speed it needed to stay ahead.
Ryan Blaney was able to move up from second place. He cut into Joey’s lead and was able to get on his rear bumper with just a few laps to go. Joey managed to stop any attempt by his teammate to make a pass. He led the final 53 laps to win the race and the championship.
It was Joe’s third win of the 2024 NASCAR playoffs, fourth win of the season, fourth Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway and 36th career victory in NASCAR’s top division. The bigger takeaway was that Joey is now the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. He now has three Cup championships, two in the last three years. His first victory also gives Team Penske its third consecutive Drivers’ Cup championship and five overall for the team.
See complete race results for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway here.
See the final points standings for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series here.
Drivers and teams now have the offseason to prepare for the NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray (Feb. 2, 2025) and the Daytona Fast Weeks, which include scrimmages at Daytona (Feb. 13, 2025) and the Daytona 500 (Feb. 13, 2025).
Author: Buck Stevens
