Joey Logano dominated early and late at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday (Nov. 6) and returned to lead the final sprint to the checkered flag, scoring the win and his second NASCAR Cup Series championship in the process.
Though he faced challenges from fellow Championship 4 drivers Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott throughout the race, as well as Team Penske stablemate Ryan Blaney, Logano managed a half-second gap over the No. 12 the final few laps to claim the victory and title.
The championship moment for @joeylogano and all of #TeamJL! pic.twitter.com/VjnkELjumL
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2022
The win was Logano’s fourth of the 2022 season and the 2018 champion bookended the season with wins, kicking things off with a triumph in the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum and finishing it off with his third Phoenix win.
Chastain finished third, unable to close the gap after the final restart, while Bell came home 10th after a slow final pit stop dropped him back through the field.
Polesitter Logano dominated from the green flag, leading every lap of one en route to the segment victory. All four Championship 4 drivers were in the top 15 by lap 21, with Chastain making his way up from starting 25th.
The uneventful first stage led to Logano keeping the lead on a pit cycle, after which Bell passed Elliott for position before the first caution flew for incident on lap 85.
Landon Cassill spun off of turn 2, sliding back into the path of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and both cars ended up damaged from the contact.
Landon Cassill gets loose coming off of turn two and hits the wall, leading to contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
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— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 6, 2022
On the ensuing round of stops, Cole Custer stayed out and Erik Jones was first off pit road with two tires while Logano won the four-tire race.
The No. 22 shot back out to the lead rather quickly while Elliott’s bad stop dropped him back in the field, and Bell got loose while battling for position and he fell back outside the top 10.
Logano and Chastain, meanwhile, were dealing with fuel-mileage strategy and both were forced to stretch to the end of the stage; Chastain was told by his crew to not shift for five laps in order to save, a strategy he continued using and lost track position as a result — including to Bell, who made his way back into the top 10 around lap 144.
At this point, Logano, Chastain and Bell…
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