Even-year Joey Logano. It’s no longer a meme, but rather the world we live in.
Just when it looked like Logano’s streak of making the Championship 4 every even-numbered year since the format’s inception had come to an end at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, a shocking DQ of Alex Bowman and some brilliant fuel strategy from crew chief Paul Wolfe at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday (Oct. 20) sent Logano to his third win of the season and a sixth Championship 4 appearance, more than any other driver.
Logano’s win at Las Vegas was the 35th of his Cup career, breaking a three-way tie with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for 25th on the all-time win list. The triumph also marked Logano’s fourth checkered flag at Las Vegas, which ties him with Jimmie Johnson for the most Cup wins all time in Sin City.
Logano has been in this position before, and there’s arguably no driver better than him at maximizing results come playoff time.
All Logano’s Championship 4 appearances since 2018 have come by winning the opening race in the Round of 8. Not only is he making it to the final race, but he’s doing it without breaking a sweat.
Make no mistake, Logano is an experienced driver who knows how to work the playoff system to his advantage. But the fact that he managed to make the Championship 4 this season — in what is arguably the worst season of his entire tenure at Team Penske — is unprecedented in the stage-racing era.
With three races to go in the 2024 season, Logano currently has a stat line of three wins, six top fives, 11 top 10s, 307 laps led and an average finish of 17.5.
Three wins ties Logano for the second-most wins of any driver this season, but he is currently on pace to score the fewest top fives, fewest top 10s and the worst average finish of his 12-year tenure at Penske.
Part of the reason why Logano’s counting stats are so low in 2024 is because of his horrendous start to the year. After 18 races, he had five top 10s, five finishes of 28th or worse and sat 14th in points. And with two laps to go in the 19th race of the season at Nashville Superspeedway, Logano was on pace to finish 14th.
On pace to finish 14th until Penske…
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